The Start of an End
by Urau
Summary: Takes place around the time where Natsu & his team disappeared in Tenrou Island so it doesn't revolve around them yet. This story revolves about the lives and missions of 21 mages in different guilds. Rated T for safety. Implied Natsu x Lucy and Gray x Juvia in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

As for the guild. I have a few different ones in mind since it doesn't revolve around Fairy Tail yet. This takes place around the time where Natsu and the others went to Tenrou Island and disappeared there.

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_Moon Eclipse:A guild filled with powerful mages like Fairy Tail. Both guilds were on very good terms. The guild members went into hiding and had kept a low profile after being framed by their former ally, though in truth they were innocent. Thus, the council had disbanded them but yet they weren't willing to disband and was now considered a dark guild._

_Needs...7 members. Though the guild won't just consist of just 7 of them._

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**Karma:Were once in the same alliance with Moon Eclipse and Fairy Tail but then betrayed them and ran off into hiding. Eventhough their location was unknown, they were still pretty active. No matter what they did, they always have a reason, some are for justice so some people doesn't call them a dark guild but a neutral one. Please note that, unlike the other dark guilds in the anime, they won't be eradicated.**

**Also, the members have aliases of the seven sins (They have only 7 members). Lust, Glutton, Wrath, Pride, Sloth, Greed & Envy.**

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Solitaire : A guild made up of various people like mercenaries, fugitives, criminals and much more. They are a neutral guild but because of their members having huge bounties on their heads they have to keep a very low profile. They moved from town to town in groups or couples. The guilds member were recognized due to the fact they all have exceptional skill when it comes to mining, buying or making jewelry, betting and playing tarrot cards.

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Moon Eclipse current members : Minerva Vermillion (Guild Master)

Rhea Nestmile

Kasumi Drager

Amy

Ken Kiroko

Ace Frost

Emily Frost

Aki Dartson

(no more)

Karma current members: Odin Karma (Guild Master)

Elturi Tearenia/ Wrath

Kazu Kiroko/ Sloth

Eriko Orgueil/ Lust

Jonas Kassynder/ Pride

Drake Strider/Greed

Hikaru Akito/ Envy

Natalie Storms

Solitaire current members: Johanna (Guild Master)

Autumn Sun

Mariah Strike

Ronda

Dagon

Lily Hameke

Althea Zwien

Aquamarine Ocenia

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**I've enough ocs thank you. I'll start soon.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

Alright, first things first, I don't own anything. All the ocs belong to their owners. I'll list who they are later at the notes below.\

Oh, and i found a song that suits this guild on Youtube, I don't own anything though. Here. Remove the spaces please. If you can't find it, its Karma by Bump of Chicken.

http:/youtube . com/ watch? V = 1P V C 6 L Tz p z 8

~~~~~ Chapter 1, Karma's goal ~~~~~~

**Karma Guild**

"Mistress, there's someone lurking behind these books and shelves." An alto low voice stated. The voice belonged to a small dragon that had silver glittering scales, gold eyes and green hair,

In the overly dark place which seems to be a library as there are books arranged neatly on shelves, sat a young child on the floorboard. The young girl appeared to be the dragon's mistress as it was resting on her shoulders and she was currently reading a thick book despite the dark atmosphere around her, she could still see clearly . She was too engrossed in the book to even hear what her pet dragon had said nor has she sense the presence of another in the same place as her.

Suddenly, an unatural shape of a shadow appeared behind the girl and swiped the book off her hands. She jumped up and turned around, only to see a boy that seems to be 12 and had short black hair, small slitted black eyes ( like Gin's eyes from bleach ), light pale skin and was around 5'2 feet tall. He also have unatural yet noticeable black wolf ears on his head, coupled with his human ears he have four ears so his hearing senses far surpassed that of a normal human. He's currently wearing a green shirt with long sleeves, blue pants and a pair of black shoes.

"Oh...Sloth, what a pleasant surprise to see you here." The girl had a Scottish accent and her voice was just dripping with sarcasm though she didn't show any hints of emotion in her eyes nor her face.

"Yes, yes Wrath. I know you're excited and happy to see me~" One must wonder if the boy was just toying with her by pretending to not notice her sarcasm or if he was downright an idiot. As he finished, the girl – Wrath, snatched her book back from the boy.

"Get out of my sanctuary." She hissed. Sloth ignored her and took the book from her again with relative ease and started flipping through the pages of the book. A frown formed on his face when he looked at the words written on the ancient book, he hadn't had a clue of what's written there but he wasn't going to let the girl notice.

"Hmph, boring." He made an excuse for himself. But that excuse was pathetic.

"Boring? Or you don't know what's written in there?" The small dragon spoke. Sloth felt like ripping the dragon's head out now, but he refrained from doing that as he knew that he wouldn't stand a chance against Wrath that can regenerate rapidly, therefore he'll only exhaust himself even with his impressive and inhuman stamina.

"Anyways, we have a meeting." Sloth imformed as he tried to calm himself. The girl didn't respond but the dragon did, "Why are you changing the subject?" That did it. He didn't know what the dragon had said to fuel his anger since he found it pointless after all, it was only a simple and harmless question. Sloth didn't have time to pull his thoughts together as he soon found himself charging magical energy. Normally, Sloth here would be on his best behavior when a female was involved or was in front of him as he wanted to find a powerful bride to bear his child to continue his werewolf bloodline as his brother had died.

The book that belonged to Wrath was his victim, that poor thing...In 10 seconds, the grimoire turned into a sword. Sloth growled and got ready to strike the dragon whom is resting on Wrath's shoulder. Wrath on the other hand, was at lost for words as she had thought that Sloth wouldn't do anything to harm her or her pet.

But she wasn't stunned for long, she reacted quickly as she too grabbed a book and it immediately morphed into a black and purple sycthe. She was ready to intercept his attack but she was interrupted.

"Enough!" A booming old wise voice boomed. Sloth dropped his wepaon immediately and covered his ears. Due to his sharp hearing senses, he was able to detect enemies from miles away but of course, all things have a side-effect to it. For instance, his sharp hearing which was sensetive to loud things.

Wrath, true to her name, was still angered by the fact that anyone tried to harm her or her pet therefore ignoring her guild master's orders and proceed to try and kill Sloth. She was stopped in time though, by a silver haired boy holding a silver gun with diamond and amesthyst studs embedded on it which was now cocked at her head, threatening to shoot if she tried anything funny.

The silver haired boy a.k.a. Envy doesn't look that much older than Wrath but he was powerful. He had silver hair, white eyes with a hue of blue, pale skin and was very dashing though he always have an indifferent face and emotionless mask. Unlike Wrath, he doesn't even show a hint of emotion like she sometimes did. He doesn't talk much at all so he's considered mute to others but he has a baritone voice despite his current age. He wears a dull green coat over a black t-shirt that had a picture of a skull on it, baggy jeans and sneakers.

"You should calm down, Wrath. How unlady-like." Another voice spoke. It was Pride. Pride was a skinny yet athletic build and a medium height teenager. He had slick short indigo mixed with black hair, light olive skin tone, and amber eyes. He wore his usual white suit with a blood red tie, white dress shoes, white gloves, and a beige overcoat that he wear around his shoulders like a cape. To Wrath and the other guild members, he was an eccentric man with a personality that makes his fellow guild members wonder whether he is a comrade or not. He is quite arrogant when he speaks and always wants to show that he is above the others and so he is using phrases that usually impress those who listen to them. However, even if he is arrogant, he is cautious whenever he is in a battle. He is always aware of his enemies and he is ready for anything. He does not like making mistakes at all and so in a battle he is observing anything and figuring out the plan behind the attacks, making him a difficult target for people who are going with strategies that are based on tricking their enemies.

"Save the fight for later, you can test your strength with this newbie here, to see if she qualifies or not." A high soprano voice chided, it was Lust. Wrath shoved Envy of her roughly and stood up dusting her clothes whic consists only black boots with high heels, short black pants with diamond studs on and has nothing but black bandages covering her upper body with a black hoody on. It was hard to tell if she was Lust or Wrath with ehr clothing like that coupled with her attractive looks of light blond hair,so light that its almost white, her hair is wavy and was a bit curly. She had pale skin, blood red eyes (sometimes her eyes are bloodshot.)

"We have someone trying out for the last remaining seat." Someone repeated and Wrath recognized him as Greed. Greed has azure blue eyes and jet black hair. He's tall for his age, standing at5'3, he also has a lean body. He has a very noticeable scar across his face. He wears all black, making it easy for him to blend into the shadows. He wore black fingerless gloves, black muscle shirt, black torn jeans, black combat boots, a pair of shades and two piericing on both ears.

"I heard you the first time." Wrath replied after managing to control her anger. "Who would want the Lust seat? Even the name's sound disgusting." Sloth said as he rubbed his sore ears after getting up from his position on the ground, "That was harsh old man." He added.

"What's wrong with you just now?" Wrath asked, she sounded concern. Sloth must've heard this too as he smirked, "Hey...I didn't think that you'll-" He was interrupted by an old man, whom is also the guild master, Odin.

Odin was an old man in his seventies, he now has white hair and a thick beard, which used to be blond in color, and blue eyes, giving the impression of an old lion. He is dressed in a full-body Council uniform as he was once one of them, his were designed solely for the top of the organization. His necklace, belt, shoulder and instep armor plates are golden both in color and, apparently, in material. Intriguingly, he is the one with simplest clothing in the guild, despite his status as its leader. Odin usually looks strict, but has a relaxing attitude toward people especially his guild members which now only consists of abnormal yet powerful youngsters as his former guild mates had died facing the dark dragon, Acnologia. He can be cold and ruthless at times but will try to keep everyone out of harm's way if possible. Actually, he is rather clumsy with other people in daily life while he is very expertise at work. Like now as there is someone trying for the last remaining seat.

"This girl here is Emiko Orgueil, she'll be trying out for the last remaining seat." Odin announced as things have finally calmed down, 'I hope they get along well. Sloth and Wrath are more than enough for me to handle, especially their bickering and rivalry.'

His hopes and thoughts were crushed in an instant as all of them were now making plans to torture the newbie. Wrath had a faint smirk on her face while the others were grinning maniacally, sadistically and openly. Only Envy didn't seem to be involve in their plan.

"Well, who is she?"

"Where is she?"

"A shirmp? I can't see her."

"That's because its too dark here, use your brain."

"Hey an egg."

"Can we eat it?"

"Did I just hear cracking sounds?"

"Haku!" "Fenrir!" Footsteps were heard then the sounds of the doors slamming hard onto the wall followed as light from the hall illuminated the dark library.

Odin sighed as he teleported himself out of the dark library. He used teleportion magic as he was crippled after the confrontation with Acnologia, he hadn't meant to complain as he was the only one to survive the incident. Since then, he had worked very hard to fill the spots of the guild. But he still couldn't help but think about the incident when he teleported himself anywhere everytime. His heart ached for his lover whom had died shielding him 50 years ago from the dragon's attack and he had never got the chance to confess his love to her. So he set out to do the impossible – to being the dead back to life. Odin had spent at least a decade to find powerful mages to join his guild, he wasn't very sucessful at first but he managed to create Wrath, using her to attract powerful mages that wanted to prove themselves to join him. As cruel as it had sounded, Odin did find a way to "maybe" bring the dead back to life - By using 7 sacrifices that represents the 7 cardinal sins, which was basically the youngsters he had grown so fond of. Odin didn't have the heart to do that so he decided to use the black mage Zeref if he ever managed to find him.

"Its cracking~"

"Maybe we should use a hammer to make the chick come out faster?"

"NO! ! !" Eriko objected immediately. Odin found out that she was a half human and half celestial spirit, she never mention who her father was though but he'll find out eventually. She pure black hair with streaks of golden brown in it, her hair was styled in a windswept fringe to the right and it reaches her hip. Her eyes were ruby in color, she had pale white skin and looks fragile. She's pretty tall for her age of 11, she was slender and had good curves as well. She wore a black leather jacket over a white tunic with pink, red and black cherry blossoms and black leggings with black boots. Odin had noted that member of his guild usually wore leather and black colored clothes. This had shed some light on what he may buy for them on their birthdays.

_Crack...crack...crack..._

The large egg had started to hatch and the once bickering children turned their attention to the egg. Odin chuckled in amusement as they all crowded around the egg and was now peering intently at it, including the pets of the guild, Haku and Fenrir.

"It seems like we have two new addition." Odin mused as the egg completly hatched to reveal a cat with wings. Odin knew that it was an Excheed, so he assumed that the girl may be a dragon slayer, he knew this because the incident where Magnolia had suddenly disappeared and was sucked into the Anima reached him first, he made his way there and had saw the large hole in the sky hovering above the lost town. He had sent his minions to see to it.

"I am going to call you Kira," Eriko declared as she held the winged kitten at an arms length. "Food." Fenrir muttered. Haku rolled his eyes, "Whatever."

"I thought you say we were going to test you." Sloth remarked. "For the Lust seat?" A high soprano voice asked, they didn't need to turn to tell it was Insanity. She has wavy silver hair shoulder length (like Cana's hair), ice blue eyes, tan skin and a swimmer's build. She wore a midnight blue tank top under a black open leather jacket, white pants, blue converse and a black shades to go with her looks. She's recognizable because she always carries a black guitar on her back because she feels music can solve many problems. Like ehr name implies, she isn't really in her right mind since she has spilt persona, the one that's always active was calm, cool headed as she is cool under pressure and usually doesn't get mad except in battle or when someone is hurting her namaka(This persona of hers doesn't make her fit into the Karma guild). She never backs down to anything or anyone,will protect her love ones to the bitter end even if it cost her life. While her other persona that lies dormant at the moment though she could easily overpower the other persona's metal power and take control of their body easily was far more twisted with her insane laughter and different evil thoughts of torturing her oponents. Those that cross path with this unreasonable female were very unfortunate.

"Yes," Eriko replied the she glanced around, finally her gaze settled on Wrath and she walked over ot her, "Take care of Kirally will you?" Wrath's left eyebrow rose when Eriko requested her to help her(Eriko) in a quite disrespectful manner but said nothing and took the now sleeping cat.

Then they turned to their master, Odin.

"Prepare the underground test field!" They don't need to be told twice as they all dispersed, leaving Eriko and Odin alone in the large living room that house no furniture.

'I will succeed...this is all for Mother.'


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright, first things first, I don't own anything. All the ocs belong to their own owners. **

~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 2, Moon Eclipse's Down Fall ~~~~~~~~~~

**Moon Eclipse**

Large brown wooden yet heavy doors were suddenly slammed open with a heavy force that made a few screws loose and fell off. These were all done by a mere child.

"Everyone! ! Its not good at all! ! Fa-Fairy Tai..." The male child trailed off as he tried to catch his breath.

All the guild members now turned his head to the boy that just barged into their hideout. His sudden entrance had startled them and made had made most of them preparing their weapons and magic as they have quite huge bounties on their heads and that had them on the Dark Guilds must-be-eliminated-list.

The boy that had just barged in was Ken Kiroko. He was a quiet guy. he doesn't like to talk and get shy sometime around girls. He is sometime naive about the world and was easily provoked. Despite his quiet nature, he is a battle lover and love to train and train people. He is very loyal to his comrades and follow orders. He had black hair, black eyes, light skin and was 5 feet tall. He wears a dark blue bandana that cover his animal like ears on his head a dark blue t-shirt with the words on the front saying peace in white. wear a dark blue shorts that reach his knees and black shoes.

"What?" The water dragon slayer, Kasumi Drager was the first to speak. She's small for her age which was now 6. She has very light blue, almost silver hair. She has gray eyes and very pale skin. She usually wears blue T-shirts and acts indifferent about things, and makes out that she's only in the guild to get some money and she hates everyone in it, but the truth is that she loves the guild as much as everyone else does. Also, she tries to act tough, but she's actually very easily upset. As well as this, she can be sympathetic with people younger than her or those older than her by a year or a month, but she tries not to interact with people older as she depicts them as scary.

In her lap sat an Exceed, its name was Amy. She's a jet black cat with a white chest, paws, ears and tail tip. Unlike Kasumi, she doesn't try to hide her feelings. She's very shy, and whenever Kasumi does something to upset someone else she apologizes for it. She sees herself as a peacekeeper of the guild, however no one else does.

"I-Is something the matter?" Amy was concerned. "Did I just hear the word Fairy Tail?" Someone from the guild which consists of hundred members inquired. Murmurs and whisperings broke out among them.

"Really?" A young 10 year old, Rhea Nestmile walked over to Ken to examine his face for any hints of lie on his face. This made Ken blushed slightly as he was no good at handling girls. She has blue light hair( Like Miku Hatsune's ), ivory pale skin and aquamarine eyes. She stands at 144 and weights 27kg, she's pretty well developed for her young age. She wears an orange halter dress,orange colored high heels and golden 's a cheerful, kind hearted, hyperactive especially when she runs high on sugar, pretty clumsy and was slightly childish for her age.

"The master had to know of this." Ace Frost spoke after some of the murmurings had died down. He had a pretty mature voice despite being a 9 year old. He had wild dark blue hair with black streaks, sharp onyx eyes which he could use to make lowly enemies sweating with only a glance if you ignore his petite height,very pale skin as if he never once got out and into the sun for sunlight in his entire life. He wears a short sleeve dark blue shirt with black jeans and long white cloak. He's VERY sarcastic, uncaring (with his little sister being the only exception), and confident (confident comes from power) His insignia is on his chest.

"Yes, master's sister owns that very guild." Emily Frost nodded as she agreed with her older by a year brother. She has long black hair that's always tied in high ponytail, pale white eyes which was the reason why people often to mistaken her as a blind girl. She has a healthier shade of skin than her brother as she often went out into the sun to play when she was a child. She also wears a black tank top under white jacket and a short white skirt. So unlike her brother she's very polite, patient and kind. Her guild insignia is on her right palm.

"What is it that needs to be told to me?" Minerva Vermilion asked in her child-like voice yet soothing one. She was the founder and the first guild master of Moon Eclipse, she and her deceased twin sister, Mavis Vermilion both started out on their journey and created two different guilds that were on good terms even though there haven't been much contact between them anymore. Minerva and Mavis had died on unknown reasons and circumstances, but Minerva had the ability to create an Ethereal body at will that is visible and can cast powerful and deadly Magic Spells. Her abilities were very similar to her twin's. Mavis has very long, wavy, golden hair, large hazy hazel eyes and a definitely child-like build, which shows that she had a few differences with her sister. She wears a frilly, violet layered robe where a blue ribbon tied in a bow is attached and appears to have feather adornments around her ears. Unlike her sister, she prefers wearing shoes, as she was wearing glass slippers.

"Ask Ken, he knows the details," Aki Dartson, a male mage stated as he jabbed his finger at Ken that's still standing at the door way deep in thought. He had chocolate brown hair in the style of Gray's, brown eyes and light tan skin. He was tall for his age of 11 and he had a black dragon tattoo shaped into a yin-yang symbol on the left arm. He wears a black coat with gray lines along the hem that reaches the knees over a white dress shirt and black dress pants with a brown belt with black dress shoes, his only accesories was a diamond stud in his left ear and black sunglasses which was now perched on top of his head. He stupidly cares for his supposed girlfriend but stays as a silent shadow though it doesn't work as almost everyone practically ignores him unless they are sparring or working together. He is serious and speaks his mind whenever he feels like it and doesn't care what others think (except Eriko). Though this seems to look like the bad boy personality it's not because he is actually a softie and gets very angry when his friends are hurt. He is sometimes misunderstood that other kids his age or younger were arrogant and unfriendly brats but when he met Eriko it changed as he started to get friendly with kids his age. When he is nice girls fall for him in an instant as he was pretty good looking. And considering his character is very hard because he can be nice one moment and rude the next. It all depends on the person he was speaking too. He's like a human version of Loki except he is 'tied down' to one girl and doesn't flirt with other girls.

Minerva immediately turned her attention to Ken, "What happened to them, Ken? And who told you that?" Ken didn't have the chance to answer when a loud crash was heard and the ceiling went down. Gasps of horror, screams of pains and shouts filled with warnings for comrades to get out of the way so that they will not be crushed by the dangers ahead and above.

Minerva who wasn't effected as she doesn't have a real body to begin with was worried for her guilds safety so she flew up into the sky to stop those that were attacking them. She found out that it was soldiers from the Council.

"Stop this at once! !" She ordered, "We have done nothing wrong!"

"You and your guild was charged for treason for murdering one of the Council Members! !" The one, most likely the captain barked orders, "Continue to use the Magical Bombs, don't show any mercy to those traitors! ! !"

"We did nothing of the sorts! !" Ken shouted his protest as he tried to get Aki who was now screaming profanities and colorful words that no child should ever know from the rubbles of woods, stones and thick bricks. Minerva inspected her guild members condition with once glance over her shoulder while she tried hard to concentrate on her spell that will save the remaining members with Total Eclipse.

Ace using his gravity magic had managed to save his sister- Emily and a few dozen of injured or panicking or crying guild members. Amy had carried Kasumi and flew high up into the air, where Kasumi was now trying to put out fires and save the remaining guild members. Rhea and a few guild members was trying to fend off the enemies that were closing in on them.

In the chaos going on in her heart and mind, Minerva felt a pang of pride as she watched the younger generations of her guild fighting those older men that were twice their age. This also gave her the urge to hurry and finish her spell so no more damage can be done.

Minerva's Total Eclipse is an illusion that was presented to the enemies and it had the ability to distort reality, she created a yellow and red horizon like world with hovering rocks this time, with the guild members hope and dreams as its core and supported by the magical power of the guild members and herself. Inside this space, the only magical element that is active is the illusionary dragons in it which also had the ability to kill her enemies mentally and if her enemies had a weak mind they'll die of fear and shock in reality as well, the other elements are very limited inside the barrier, putting non dark art users at a great disadvantage.

While the enemies were distracted and trapped in her spell, she turned around and tried to help the injured as best as she can by casting Paradise Song which had the ability to cure wounds and even internal wounds though the process would be painful.

"Everyone, hurry and get out of here! I'll try to hold the fort!" Minerva ordered them. She was heartbroken when she saw young children whom parents were mages in her guild crying for their dead parents and those that had died. Minerva knew that this would bring out an outcome of horror and trauma from the kids afetr this.

"W-where should we go, master?" Rhea asked, tears falling from her eyes. "Half of you go to Fairy Tail and seek help, while the other half will go to Blue Pegasus." Minerva knelt down and hugged Rhea, "It'll all be fine, you'll see." In her heart though, 'I hope this won't cause any mental problems to these young kids...Why do I have the sickest feeling that Odin had something to do with this?' She ushered Rhea away and turned around witnessing her enemies die for they couldn't handle the mental assault.

A few miles away from the destructions, Emily Frost collapsed onto the ground as she clutched her head in pain. A vision from the future flash through her mind. Ace, Amy, Kasumi and other guild members looked at her in concern.

"Are you okay?" Ace asked, worry lacing his voice, "What did you see in your vision?" Emily shook her head, "No, its okay."

'The 7 cardinal sins... I have to tell the master about this.'


	4. Chapter 4

**Alright, first things first, I don't own anything. All the ocs belong to their own owners. **

~~~~~~~~~Chapter 3, Solitiare Intervenes ~~~~~~~~~~

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**Solitiare **

A loud explosion was heard and the towns people were scared, as they quickly ran into their houses to take shelter. A young short 6 year old girl was the victim of those that were running for their lives as they didn't pay attention to where they were running and ended up running into her.

The girl's name was Autumn Sun, she had hazel hair tied into a long neat braid, golden eyes and was slightly tan. She wears a sleeveless black suit, white undershirt, black skirt and brown boots. She currently stands at 3'9, short. Despite her young age, she's very sly in battle. She's creative in battle as she can create new moves in a battle, negative, sarcastic and a whiner.

Someone grabbed her collar from behind and pulled her into the alleyway, saving her from the crowds of people. She let out a sigh of relief when she was out of the crowds way. Sun turned around to see who had saved her, turns out that it was the half celestial spirit-and half human, Althea Zwein.

"Thanks man, I would have died out there if you didn't lend a hand."

"Where's your partner?"

"We got seperated," Sun mumbled sheepishly. To tell the truth, she ditched him because he was too slow to keep up with her. She looked up at the girl 4 years older than her, Sun hadn't had much time to get to know her because soldiers and mages dispatched from the Council were out to get them so they had to move out of Magnolia for the time in.

Althea had purple white hair which was always tied in a high pony tail, her hair reaches her waist and it bothered her but she didn't bother to cut her hair at all. Her eyes were silver colored and she was tall for her age standing at 150, she also had fair skin, not too pale or tan.  
She wears a black halter dress with white laces, long black gloves, high boots and a black ribbon. She wears a necklace with black celestial key as its pendant. Actually she was a celestial wizard, but she was fobidden get a hold of any keys by the Spirit King except her father's key. So she learns new magic from her father. In battle she was more of a support member for she uses healing magic. Despite not having any magic that can hurt her enemies, so for attack and self defense she learns how to use a pair of twin knives. She nice, kind and shy so she became a loner. She hate fighting for she never fights unless needed.

"Putting all that aside, what happened?" A new voice interrupted them. It was Dagon.  
He has black spiky hair, ice blue eyes, unusual sharp fangs and canines, very good looking and usually wore black clothes; he was 5'1. He is a genius but he never tells anyone anything unless they ask, he always keeps to himself, loves ice cream so we can bribe him with that. Aside form that, he's very loyal to his friends and are always there when they need him. Sun sometimes see him as an older brother though she would never tell anyone that. Beside him was his companion, partner, best friend and pet – Woffi. Woffi is a black wolf, it also had the ability to change sizes. Dagon found Woffi when he were a little puppy and took care of him ever since.

"Dagon! Where were you? I almost died out there!" Sun yelled at him accusingly. Dagon gave her a 'I-don't-care-shrug'. Woffi just stared blankly at the two children.

"Hey, its the guild here!" Someone else joined their conversation – It was Mariah Strike. She has long midnight blue hair which was normally tied up in a high pony tail, fair skin and black eyes ; she's 5 feet and her weights a secret as she had claimed. She wears a black tank top and a short plaid skirt coupled with a long hoodie to keep herself warm most of the time. She's smart therefore, it made her a very bossy person and likes to lead others. Not to mention stubborn, but she shows her kind side when shes protecting someone. Flying by her side was her pet companion Exceed – Ronda. Ronda's skin color was a light shade of purple, she has violet colored eyes and had black hair; she wears a small blue dress every time. She's very shy and was scared of the dark. One must wonder how she can live with Mariah who was a shadow dragon slayer who therefore have to stay some place dark.

"Its Moon Eclipse, they've been attacked." Lily Hameke appeared out of no where and jumped down from the roof she was on just a second ago to join her friends down there. She has green eyes, long back hair tied up in a high wavy ponytail and a pale shade of skin ; currently standing at 4'10 but her weights unknown. She wears a t-shirt thats constantly showing her belly button and jeans. Over her top she wears a big trench coat that apparently have bottomless pockets. She normally keeps books in them though and it also has a fair amount of jewelry. She's a book worm and a slight rebel if she doesn't like something she will speak out about it. She's also a very caring and loyal person, especially to her guild mates and friends, she sometimes will take a hit for a complete stranger. Most people described her as Weird.

"Hey! Didn't the master said not to move in groups?" Another voice barked at them. 'Seriously, deja vu much?' Sun rolled her eyes at the fact. Turns out it was none other than the Water Fairy, a real fairy; if the members of Fairy Tail sees her, they'll know that Fairies had no tail...maybe there was, no one was sure as the Water Fairy doesn't reveal much to them.

The Water Fairy, a.k.a. Aquamarine Ocenia was a young 11year old fairy. She has light blue hair which she doesn't ties up and lets it blow in the wind, she has unyielding blue eyes and ivory skin. She stands at 4'9 and wears a light blue colored short yukata that reach above her knees and light blue shoes. She's childish, arrogant, competitive, tomboyish and was always thinking positive things unlike Sun who's her complete opposite. Through her tough and mean streak, she has a heart of gold which she rarely shows to others unless they were really depressed.

"We were just discussing somethings!" Woffi replied.

"So cut us some slack!" Dagon backed his friend up. Ronda nodded shyly, Sun huffed, Althea muttered something under her breath while Lily just sighed and shook her head, not knowing what to do.

"Anyways, let's get going." Mariah cut in before they can argue any further. Everyone but Oceania followed her. As much as they hate being bossed around by Mariah, they know that Mariah was the only one that can shut her rival up.

"I am coming too, hey!" Oceania hurried after her guild mates. In a few minutes, they all reached the chaotic scene. Guild members of the other guild were most likely dying in there right now or were already dead or some were still just fighting or some that were waiting for help to reach them.

"We have to help them." Lily stated. This mere sentence made them fidget slightly for they were considered a dark guild – courtesy of those generations before them and they were now still trying to clear their tainted name and reputation and therefore was not allowed to show themselves in public.

"Arghh! Who cares? I am going! Woffi, let's go!" Dagon and Woffi charged straight ahead, leaving a cloud of dust to the rest of them. Lily, Mariah and Ronda went next. After much grumbling, Oceania followed them cursing herself in her mind for being so soft. Thus, now leaving Sun and Althea behind watching their retreating backs.

Before they can take a step forward or do anything, three people ran past them at amazing speed. Sun managed to catch a glimpse of blue hues and silver hair with an insignia of Karma which consists of a 7 with two sycthes forming a cross behind the number. Althea too saw the insignia but she also caught sight of red eyes, black hair with brown highlights and white hair.

The two Solitiare members shared a look and it clicked in their minds, "Karma! !" They turned around to see the three retreating Karma members. Then they turned around again at the sound of someone wheezing behind them. It was Aki Dartson, he was panting someone's name. Sun made it out that it was 'Eriko'.

"Are you ok?" Althea was concern. She knelt down to his level and look closer at him, she spotted his Moon Eclipse insignia of a blood red moon and two angels both of different colors the same time Aki notice Althea's guild insignia which was of a tarrot card with diamonds and a joker that had an insane grin on its face.

"Ahh! !" The two jumped back. "Doing something so not appropriate in a crisis is just so...I don't know what to say. Tch. Tch. Tch." Sun was obviosly joking but the other two took it seriously as they glared venomously at her. Aki stopped glaring at her and gasped, looking as if he had jsut remembered something important, "I really have to go! Eriko ! ! !" HE shouted a she continued his chase for the Karma members.

"Eriko? Who's that?" Sun asked as she easily caught up with Aki who had a head start in running.

"My girlfriend." Aki replied grinning a stupid grin. Sun and Althea who had also caught up just a second ago and heard them made gagging motions. Aki paid them no heed as he quickened his pace.

"There are three of them, you'll need help in battle." Althea said. "Eriko isn't dangerous! Its those two!" Sun disagreed, "But i saw that all three of them had the same guild insignia." "You must have seen it wrongly, they were running so fast, your eyes must be playing ticks on you." Aki persisted. "Suit yourself, just don't be disappointed later on." Sun muttered.

"Disobeying others I see." Sun and Althea stopped in their tracks while Aki ran on full speed ahead. The two girls gulped as they slowly turned around to see their guild master, Johanna. Johanna has the appearance of a young woman in her 20s-30s, with a slim build. She has long black hair and slit dark golden eyes. She wears what seems to be a unique white Westernized model of Japanese empress dress and dons a crown-like attire on her head.

"Err...we were just..." Althea didn't know what to say. "Racing after...Karma." Sun admitted. "So they have something to do with this?" Johanna inquired in her motherly soothing voice. "We're not sure, you should ask those that were at the scene. We're just trying to pursue them for some..."Althea trailed off, "Questionings." Sun finished for her. "Then you shall hurry." Johanna said. The two let out sighs of reliefs then they fled the scene immediately.

"...I pray that you shall be blessed in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit." Johanna said as she disappeared.

* * *

The three Karma members stopped running as they didn't see anyone after them. Akito was still on guard while the other two ladies, Elturi and Eriko weren't. All three's head snapped up into the direction where there was rustling from the bushes. Akito readied his gun, Eriko tensed while Elturi held her grimoire tightly. The rustlings stopped and a rabbit's head popped out. Sighs of reliefs were freed, including one from the indifferent and cold Akito.

"Eriko! ! !" A shout was heard, followed by Aki's head appearing from the bushes. 'Is he stupid or something?' Was the thought of Akito, Elturi, Eriko and Sun who had sharp hearing therefore had the ability to hear things a few miles away from her if she wishes.

"Your boyfriend?" Elturi asked, amused. "No! !" Eriko's reply came instantly, "Yes! !" Aki's one came a second late. Akito couldn't care less as he aimed the gun at Aki while he was distracted by Eriko. Aki realized this a little too late as the bullet infused wih powerful magic was heading towards him in blinding speed.

Luckily, Sun had sped up and left Althea behind to save the idiot. She tackled him out of the way as the bullet was deflected by Althea's knives. She was shell shocked when a mere bullet could throw her back and into the tree. Yes, she know that the bullet had magic infused in it, but she never thought that it was this powerful. Sun and Aki was surprised as well. Sun got off Aki quickly and engaged Akito in battle although her body and mind protested, one from how tired she was and there's not much sunlight in the dimly lit thick forest and the other because he was dangerous.

Punches and kicks were sent flying at Akito from Sun while the rest just watched. Actually no, Elturi was casting a spell to summon a beats to her aid. Althea was trying to heal Aki's wounds while Aki and Eriko stared at each other with some unknown emotion.

Akito was having trouble keeping up with Sun's rapid attacks with his gun in one hand so he threw the gun and decided to take her on in a close range combat. Akito was clearly not skilled when it comes ot close range combat but he managed to get a few lucky hits and hold his ground.

On the other hand, Eriko and Althea were now fighting. Eriko gathered magical energy into her mouth and she blew hard, "Roar of the Shadow Dragon! ! !" Althea was frozen on the spot, 'Impossible! Mariah's supposed to be the only one to have that magic! Lacrima perhaps?' Alteha's thoughts and musics were cut off completely as Eriko's dragon breath hit her and rendered her unconcious. Eriko had put quite an amount of effort in her last attack so she was now stumped and tired. Aki didn't know what to do, 'W-What? she really is a member of that Dark Guild? But Eriko is so sweet and kind...she wouldn't do that...'

"Leave if you don't want to end up dead." Eriko threatened. "You show too much sympathy." Elturi commented as she finished her spell, "Larvae! ! !"

Larvaes, as their name implies, are the creature representing Larvae, the magical element of Void and Darkness and was a part of alchemy. The blob Larvaes is the first type to appear from the book. They have a human face, but the main body is blob-like and seems to be unstable. Their other limbs are two transparent tentacles, which can burn human skin upon contact, angelic wings whose number varies differently for each individual and a metallic-looking black halo over their head. They also have strange white plates in the area around their head. In terms of size, they are slightly taller than a human. This type of Larvae moves quite slowly and can be easily dispatched. Despite this however, they are still quite resilient and pose a danger to normal humans or weaker mages.

The larvaes wrapped their transparent tentacles around Sun and Aki, halting their movements and making them scream in pain from the burn on their skin. Sun was in a better condition than Aki as she was the Sun Dragon Slayer, daughter of Apollo The Sun Dragon; she had the ability to absorb heat so the larvaes caused her pain but gave her quite the power boost.

She cut the Larvae's hold on her then proceed to free Aki. She then turned back to see her enemies. Elturi was in perfect condition, Eriko's pretty much out but if she was allowed the time to rest she might be able to fight again and Akito's tired but he can still put up a good fight.

Akito aimed his gun at Sun and Aki and the two closed their eyes, praying that their deaths would be quick and painless. Gun shot was heard right after Akito fired his gun. Metal scraping against metal was heard.

"Althea! Hurry !" It was Lily that had come to their rescue with Excalibur, her blood red sword, following her was Ken Kiroko of Moon Eclipse, both his arms were that of a wolf. Althea coughed but her hand move to her pendant and she tugged on it, pulling it out of the necklace hold, "Gate of the Black Snake! I open thee!" Althea had summoned her father which was a celestial spirit. A magic circle appeared in front of her.

A young man that seems to be in his twenties appeared. He had spiky purple hair. He was at 5'9 from everyone's angle. He wore a long black coat, black jeans, black t-shirt and black shoes. Once he appeared he hugged caught Althea in a bone crushing hug, by bone crushing, it was literally.

"Althea sweetie! !" The man – Ascelpius, also known as Ophiuchus still held his daughter in his arms.

"OWW! ! Dad, can't you see what's going on here?" Althea protested and kicked the man off her, even in her weakened state, she was an amazing footballer, just look as she sent her father flying into the nearest tree like a player scoring a goal in the game. If they weren't in such situation, Sun, Lily, Ken and Aki would have laughed. The Karma guild members stared at them as if they had lost their screws.

"Oww...IS this how you greet your father?" The man whined like a little kid back then, "at least you could give daddy a big hug~" Althea move to murder the man but was stopped in time by Lily, "Wait! No matter how stupid and crazy he is, we need his power in this battle!"

Akito scoffed, " Weak." No one heard it but Sun, Ken and Elturi did. His comrade said nothing but Sun took great offence in what he had said, "You creep!" He shot her a glance, "Lame." Sun glared at the older boy while he just muttered "Brat." "Better than an asshole!" The boy's eyes now narrowed into a glare. Sparks seem to flew out between them, lightning crackled actually.

Things were tense and no one said anything until the most naive one of them all spoke up - Ascelpius , give yours truly a great big applause- "If weapons weren't held I'd think this is hot yeah?" Ken and Aki supressed a chuckle, Althea kicked her father in his shin, Lily and Eriko was now poorly holding back a fit of giggles.

"**Shut. UP." **Each word was emphasized from Sun and Akito.

"Hey! You guys are taking too long! What the –" Kazu Kiroko also known as Sloth's breath hitched when he saw his little brother, Ken. Said person was doing the same, "Big...Brother?" His lips were now quivering.

"Children!" wind blew hard as the arrival of three different guild masters from different guild appeared. Johanna appeared first, "Children, this way." Her slitted dark golden eyes were stern and it meant that there's no room for argument. Minerva descended from the sky gracefully, after her feet toughed the ground, she drew her wings back.

"Hurry," Johanna urged. "Better listen to your master now kids." Ascelpius advice as he disappeared into nothingness, leaving black sparks in his wakes. Lily, Althea and Sun crowded together in Johanna's embrace and she warped all of them out of the thick dense forest just as Odin made his appearance in a black mini tornado. Minerva glared at him, a gesture that he returned calmly.

"You."


	5. Chapter 5

**Alright, first things first, I don't own anything. All the ocs belong to their own owners. Review and give me your opinion on this story of mine.**

**a/n : Say...I've been meaning to ask this to those that are reading this story. Which guild is your favourite? I would like to know. And can you guys give me some opinion to the pairings? Gotta start planning for the next few years.**

**Replies to your reviews:-**

**To Syao Blossoms :Yes, this has something to do with Emily's test. And she was tired out by just one attack because she had to fight many battles, as are the rest of them.**

**To heavenlyXblueXangel**** : I am planning on sending your oc to Fairy Tail then to Therou Island in their quest to help Fairy Tail retrieve their members. The others will most likely do the same as him.**

**And to those others out there, thanks for reviewing! !**

* * *

~~~~~~~~~Chapter 4, Complications ~~~~~~~~~~

**Moon Eclipse**

A dozen figures wove their way through the thick dense forest. Leading them was Rhea Nestmile herself, despite being young, her guild members trusted her to lead the way as she was a competent mage. Lagging behind the group was Ken Kiroko and Aki Dartson. Both are dwelling on their own problems. Aki on Karma's Emily and Ken on his brother who he had thought to be dead.

He sniffled slightly, as far as he can remember, his brother has always been there to comfort him and help him through tough times. 'He wouldn't abandon me...So why? Why hadn't he try to look for me all those years when we were seperated? Does he hate me? Or did he thought I was a burden to him and left me to die out there in the wild?' Negative thoughts plagued his mind.

"_Its alright, I am here for you. I'll never leave you." _Ken recalled back when he was a toddler, his brother always told him this. The guild master, Minerva also said the same thing when she found him crying for help in the middle of the forest except she added, _"And neither will them." _He remembered the first time he met the guild members who were astonished to see his wolf ears and tails. It was comforting and relief washed over him when they didn't throw him dirty glares because of his outward appearance.

Ken's eyes darted around, as if waiting for an ambush. He was scared for Minerva had decided to confront Odin herself and sent them on to Blue Pegasus to get help. Minerva doesn't have a real body, yes he knew that. But he can't help but worry since he knew that Odin was as powerful as Minerva or maybe stronger so he may be able to get rid of her. he used his sleeves to wipe his tears that kept falling away.

Aki who was beside him was better than Ken as he had a stronger mind and will than the little werewolf. 'Eriko wouldn't do something like that...they must have forced her somehow..' Aki was trying hard not to think about his supposed girlfriend but he just couldn't deny it. The blood on her clothes, hands and angelic face says it all., it was literally screaming that she was the one that murdered one of the council member – not that he cared – but he knew all too well that the rest of the guild members weren't going to be please since she was one of the few that framed his guild.

Now Aki and Ken were torn, between their loyalty to their comrades or their love for someone more important.

'Why must it be so hard for us?' Was the thought that flashed through both their minds.

* * *

**Solitiare**

"I can't believe this." Ocenia grumbled as she started packing her traveling bag to get out of town with the rest of the guild as they had been spotted and were now on the run from the assholes sent to them from the council.

"They didn't even give us time to enjoy ourselves!" Dagon whined grumpily as he threw his clothes – without bothering to fold them neatly and properly first – in to his suit case. Woffi was lying on the ground beside him lazily. Althea and Lily agreed but they didn't say anything and continued to pack their bags. Mariah and Ocenia continued to grumble away; Sun on the other hand had stayed completely quiet about this.

"Guys! This isn't good! The guards have surrounded this place and they're now coming-" Ronda didn't get to finish as the door behind her which she has just close a few seconds ago was sent flying into the wall. Mariah swore profanities as she move to care for her friend.

"Damn, I guess we gotta fight our way outta this." Dagon said as he cracked his knuckles and got into a battle position. Before any of them can react, Sun kicked the knight closest to her in his balls and he was now kneeling on the ground in pain.

Althea didn't waste any time as she grabbed her double knives and charged. Unfortunately, she slipped...all thanks to Lily who spilled water when she was pouring a glass of water for herself to drink just now. One of the man closed in on her, acting on impulse and without much thinking, she stabbed the man. Not in his stomach but his nuts, the sound following after the sound of something ripping. Althea face turned so red that it could put Igneel's scale color to shame. She screamed and slapped the man, sending him flying into the nearest wall then she recoiled and kept rubbing her eyes, "MY EYES! ! I am never going to get married! !". The others in the room didn't know how to react, all of them were torn between laughter or take advantage of the situation.

Althea's pet and constant partner, Nagini who always kept quiet and who was always sleeping all the time poke her head out from Althea's duffel bag's pocket to see what was the commotion about.

"What's wrong?" She probed for an answer as she saw Althea mumbling a mantra of 'I never saw that.' Over and over again.

"Nagini! Poison!" Woffi barked as he ran out of the room, knocking a few guards out of the way on his way out.

Mariah dragged a red faced Althea out, followed by Sun, Lily, Ronda, Dagon and Ocenia who had Nagini circling around her neck while she dragged Althea's bag down the stairs. Sun swearing curse words all the way, they met up with Johanna and a few others on the North Exit of the unknown town – no one bothered to read the sign as they tried to get in the town without getting noticed by any one – as quick as possible.

"Watch your mouth young lady." A senior member called Chee Yuen warned Sun. "I have a rare sort of disease that makes me spit obscenities unconciously, sir," Sun lied glibly, her tone had a subtle hint of sarcasm. "Its not something I can fucking help with." As if to prove her point, she added a curse word in that sentence.

"Why you little –" He was interrupted by Johanna who was in quite a rush to get out of here, "We have to hurry to the mansion to the West." Sun smirked at Chee Yuen mouthing, 'You can't win me~' That girl really is looking for trouble.

After a few hours of traveling, we've finally reached the damn mansion – maybe a villa, its huge! – . The entrance to the abandoned/ old mansion was a bamboo gate, alongside which stood a ramshackle station house built of wooden planks. In the evening light the whole effect was melancholy, far removed from what the kids had imagined an abandoned mansion setting to be. Strangely, the broad roadway leading into the grounds was the only one laid with asphalt. It was several hundred metres long and all of them understood the money that went into its construction was quite a tidy sum. The two original buildings continued to be the biggest structures in the grounds. Although they were built long long ago and naturally were of a style no longer considered modern for a mansion or a villa, they nevertheless looked sturdy and imposing compared to others.

Once the children have picked their rooms, they all decided to explore the grounds and wipe out monsters that resides here while waiting for the rest of the guild members to arrive so that they can start cleaning the place up. Guild Master Johanna had mysteriously and suddenly decided to make this old grounds our base, mumbling to herself that something's coming. The group of children didn't question further as they were itching for adventure.

Later in the evening, the group have covered much grounds in a tour to get to know their surroundings. The grounds seemed pretty desolate – lot upon empty lot of earth and rocks and not one single grassy spot. Out of curiosity, Lily asked for an explanation from their tour conductor who was a senior member who could be considered an elder in their guild as he was a member of the last generation.

"You should rest content with things as they are," He replied in his old sage voice with a half smile tinged with bitterness. "When I was child back then, me and the others of the last generation had to level all this ground with hoes and pick axes. In those days it was honeycombed with sandy mounds and shallow pits. Even girls had to take part in carrying earth and stones. This place used to be a cemetery you know, rumors had it that Zeref once resides in this place, he made this place his base and killed people, maybe he also tortured them. We managed to dug up mangled corpses, skeletons, limbs and organs."

(Althea's pov)

This revelation set every one of our hairs on end and we lost no time in dragging each other away from the horrible place. I took one last look behind and I almost screamed. Corpses. Blood. A tug on my hand snapped me back to reality, "Is something wrong?" Sun asked, "You look pale." Ronda added. I shook my head, "No, I am fine. Let's go back." I was despearte to return to the haven that was my room. I had wanted a roommate since I am scared of the dark and all, but sadly Johanna assigned me no one since we have 59 members at the moment so my roommate will be a new mage we would have to recruit to even out our numbers.

All that night I slept fitfully through one nightmare after another. In my frightful dreams I saw people who were killed mercilessly approaching, their bodies dripping with blood, some were beheaded so they had no head and the rest of them either lost internal organs or limbs. I also heard the shrill wail of a siren, which turned out, upon my rude awakening, to be buzzing sound of a horde of mosquitoes on the prowl. Never before had I come across mosquitoes as big or as bold as these. I did not sleep well for the rest of the night. In exasperation I got up once to try driving them away with a book, which of course to no avail.

"What's wrong dear?" Nagini asked.

"Can't sleep."

"Why?" She knew the answer yet she still want to ask. "Scared of the dark, mosquitoes and its hot here. The only one who can stand this heat is Sun." I replied grumpily from the lack of sleep.

"That's not all is it?" Nagini really was the one that knew me best huh? "Lonely." Nagini scoffed, "Then call your father!"

"I am scared he'll laugh at me."

"Father complex?"

"..." She sighed, "If you're lonely, just call him. I am sure he'll always be with you since he doesn't have anything but you anymore in this world. I am sure he'll be delighted to accompany you."

"I miss my mother." I was on the verge tears now. I am emotionally weak, like Dagon and Ocenia said. "So does your father. Think about it, place yourself in his shoes. He lost his lover and now his daughter shun him away because of his childish nature though in truth all he ever wanted was to be able to make his child open up more to him. His celestial spirit comrades shunned him as well. In the spirit realm I am certain that he was given nothing but sneers, dirty glares and many other things."

I slowly let what Nagini had said process in my mind, 'True, all this time I had been selfish. I never gave him a chance at all.' I reached for my gate key that's always at my neck to summon my father.

Nothing. I was alarmed now, I got up and scanned the room and started searching every nook and cranny of the room. I slumped back onto the bed in a panic feat, "Nagini! Did you see where the key to Father's gate is?"

"No, why? You didn't lose it did you?" She asked, fully awake now. "Yes I-" I was cut off by Nagini's gasp of horror. I turned around and feared for the worst.

In the middle of my bed...

...lies a pile of black ashes.

I screamed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Alright, first things first, I don't own anything. All the ocs belong to their own owners. Review and give me your opinion on this story of mine.**

**A/N: This is few years prior to the events in the manga after Tenrou Island so the ocs personalities may be different from depicted since they are still kids so they may be more loosen up and more cheerful.**

**The couples I had in mind now are-**

**-Akito x Sun**

**-Kazu x Elturi**

**-Aki x Eriko**

**I would like some more opinions thanks.**

**Replies to your reviews:-**

**-GaleSynch & HinaSnowBastia: I too think that this is a problem so I've decided to change somethings. Its either Althea's father die or he becomes human. You guys choose than I'll write the next chapter according to your decision. This chapter revolves around Karma so you should have enough time.**

**-IrishElvnorWhiteDreyar: I don't know. Any suggestions?**

**And to those others out there, thanks for reviewing! !**

* * *

~~~~~~~~~Chapter 5, Broken Bonds~~~~~~~~~~

**Karma**

"You lot, shoo. Go home." Odin made a shooing motion at Elturi, Eriko, Akito and Kazu. No response, they all remain silent as they eyed the two powerful mages that might face each other in battle. One their guild master who was like a father figure to them, Odin and the other is Minerva Vermilion.

Akito had the time to vaguely wonder what the outcome of the battle will be before they got barked by Odin, "Like I said,...GO HOME! ! NOW! !"

It was as though the children were being controlled by strings. They jerked, jumped and spun around like puppets then they quickly disappeared. They all had one destination in mind, "Home"

But the newest member of the guild had no idea so she stayed in the middle of the group while Akito followed by Elturi led the way. Taking the rear was Kazu who was deep in thought, Eriko wondered how he had no problem dodging trees or trip over stones when he wasn't concentrating.

"Where are we going?" She asked, they had her teleported out or in of the house so she had no idea how the house looked like nor did she knew where it was located.

"You'll see. Just follow our lead." Elturi replied. She was the only one that wasn't too quiet or too busy day dreaming to answer her.

* * *

(Eriko's pov)

"Home" was like nothing I had ever seen. The huge, rambling stone house loomed up out of the mist, the top of its tall chimneys lost to sight. Massive shady trees had their branches bent and tortured by the winds guarded the grim walls. Narrow windows blind and dark and crisscrossed with tiny bars, seemed to peer down at us. It looked like a prison than a home.

We stepped into the high timbered hall. Our footsteps echoing along the stone and sometimes wooden floor – depends on where we are – were the only sounds I heard. The air was musty and it seemed to press –by us I meant me, the rest of them didn't look bothered at all, they must have gotten used to it – like an unseen fist or foot.

"Well? What do we do now?" Kazu asked.

"Why don't you lot bring the newbie to her room?" Jonas Kassynder/ Pride suggested in his usual smug tone.

"And meet her soon to be roommate." Kazu added, returning to his usual self now...maybe.

(3rd person's pov)

"Which is me, you idiot. Now stop wasting time and move it. Kazu get her luggage, you're helping her take it up the stairs and suffer the consequences." Elturi snapped impatiently then her eyes flickered to Eriko. eriko understood what Elturi meant she was a little reluctant to comply since Elturi was like 3 or 4 years younger than her and she hate to take orders from someone younger than her. But the look on the 7 year old's serious face make her looked completely older so Eriko didn't grumble at all. She took her bag and shoved it into Kazu's arms. She then gently cradle Kira in her arms, following Elturi up the shadowy stairs lined with huge potraits of various 8 people in a picture. Eriko assumed that they were the former generations and those others before them.

"I can't see anything in front of me with the luggage blocking my view, El ~ someone ~ help me ~" Kazu whined as they climbed the creaking stairs. The old wooden stairs creaked under the pressure of their weights. Eriko saw Elturi's jaw clenched so she assumed that the 'El' Kazu mention was her, she giggled slightly. Elturi noticed and shot her a weird look. Before she say anything, someone else cut in.

"Sure ~ I'll help you." It was Natalie Storms/ Insanity. Everyone knew that it wasn't good by the tone of her voice. Elturi grabbed a curious – to what will happen – Eriko and quickly climbed up the stairs. Akito scoffed quietly as he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, most likely bored. Jonas and Drake Strider/ Greed watched from the sidelines with amusement while Kazu panicked a little trying to figure out what to do with heavy burdens in his arms.

Natalie shot out a spark of lightning and Kazu barely dodged it. In doing so, he tripped and the things in his arms flew out of his grip. Some hit a very exhausted – due to his battle with the stamina freak Sun, he had already made a mental note to kill her when he see her the next time they meet – and pinned him on the ground. Jonas, Drake and Natalie – the much more crueler members of the guild – laughed in glee. Eriko gasped, using herrr shadow dragon slayer magic, she summoned her magical powers and created shaodws that managed to catch some of her bags before they went flying onto the ground.

Elturi in a flash had grabbed hold of Kazu's arm, but thanks to her high heels the two tripped when gravity kicked in as she wasn't able to hold on while Kazu still hadn't regained any balance. The two were sent plunging down the long wooden stairs, some of the wooden planks have gotten off and were very sharp. One could get hurt if they were cut by it. It gashed Elturi on her face as she was in its path, she cried out in pain. In the next second, Elturi found herself enveloped in a warm embrace by strong arms. Grunts of pains were heard from above her and she found herself whimpering slightly as her flesh joined together and she found it disgusting.

After what seemed like an eternity of pain for the two – mainly Kazu since he shielded Elturi with his body down their joyful trip down the stairs – they came to a stop at the bottom. Kazu groaned in relief and pain.

"Oh, look. How touching is that!" Jonas mocked while the other two laughed cruelly. Elturi and Eriko snarled in unison. Akito reached the two on the ground first, he slowly and surprisingly gently carry Kazu, "I'll bring him to the room we share. You two should go too, after all, we shouldn't be near those #$%*." As he finished he walked away.

Drake snorted, "Like he is any different." Eriko grit her teeth in anger, "Let's go." Elturi had quickly climbed up the stairs again and has been the one to state it the words coldly. The two young girls ignored the mocking taunts and laughters from Pride, Greed and Insanity and made their way to their room – new room in Eriko's pov. She quietly followed a quietly and secretly seething Elturi.

Elturi came to a stop at the end of a dark passage. She pushed the wooden door open and flicked on a light. They entered a large bedroom where thick beams supported the ceiling. A long window looked out onto thr swirling mist – which was in truth an illusion to prevent anyone but the guild members to enter thier own territory – and the wood paneled walls made the chamber even gloomier, but it still had a romantic air to it not that any of the girls mind. Eriko's bags had already been stacked in one corner of the big room by Elturi's demon servants. An old four-posted bed draped with a strange silken canopy that had a maroon comforter on it, covering the mattress dominated the right side of room and it seemed clean yet unused. Another old four-posted bed draped with the same strange silken canopy dominated the left side of the room which had a purple comforter on it. Elturi threw herself on it, indicating that the purple one was hers and the remaining one was Eriko's.

Despite having two large king sized beds in the room, the room still had many spaces for a few shelves of books, some shelves were unoccupied. Two wooden brown colored dressers, study tables and doors. Eriko noted that one of the dresses and tables were empty of stuff so it had to be hers. There are three doors in total, one leading to the hallway and she knew nothing about the two others. Eriko was tempted to ask Elturi who still hadn't move from her spot on the bed, Eriko was slightly worried that she might had died of suffocation or something.

Suddenly, Elturi sighed and sat up. She stood up and walked to one of the narrow door to one side and opened it, "This is the dressing room, put your clothes in here. The dressers out there are for weapons or collectibles you want to put." Eriko followed Elturi and looked inside, she discovered a small windowless space with wardrobes in it. She nodded thoughtfully, "So mine's on the right one right? Since I saw you occupied everything on the left side." She asked for confirmation. Elturi smirked, "Right...The other door leads to a bathroom. There's a jacuzzi in there."

'This house is too grand.' Eriko thought but she said nothing. The two girls stood by the door leading to the dressing room and fell into a slight uncomfortable yet companionble silence. Eriko then shuffled to one of her bags and dug into it for something, careful not to wake the sleeping baby Exceed sleeping on her bag. She found the kit she's been looking for and handed it to a surprised Elturi.

"And what am I supposed to do with this?" She asked in her usual quiet voice.

"For the person you were and are still worried about." Eriko smirked as Elturi blushed slightly, "Nonsense." She muttered but took the kit anyway.

"Don't you think you should go to him already? Before Akito steals him away from you?" Eriko joked. She's starting to see the younger girl as her sister she never once had.

"What does this have to do with Akito?" Eriko managed to pick up a defensive tone in Elturi's voice. "I heard that pretty boys usually aren't straight and often swung the wrong way." Elturi choked and Eriko laughed for the first time in a long while.

"I am just kidding." Elturi huffed like a child, finally acting her age a little. She made her way to the door but stopped as she rested her hand on the door knob, "Oh, wait here. I'll take you on a tour around the house later on." She lifted her hand that held the kit to emphasize what she was going to say later.

"Got to...give this to Kazu.." She quickly fled from the scene with a slightly tinted pink face.

Eriko chuckled, "Maybe it won't be that bad here." She sighed, "I hope you're watching over me from up there mother." She went to her bed and lied down on her bed. Her thoughts suddenly drifted to Aki Dartson.

"That idiot..." She murmured as sleep slowly took her in her wait for Elturi's return.


	7. Chapter 7

**Alright, first things first, I don't own anything. All the ocs belong to their own owners. Review and give me your opinion on this story of mine.**

**A/N: I re-read the chapters and I notice some mistakes. I'm too lazy to make the amends and too careless since I might miss some mistakes so I need a beta- reader. My grammar isn't very good either, spelling too.**

**The couples I had in mind now are-**

**-Akito x Sun**

**-Kazu x Elturi**

**-Aki x Eriko**

**-Rhea x Ken**

**Replies to your reviews:-**

**-GaleSynch: Thanks for the advice, I'll keep that in mind.**

**And to those others out there, thanks for reviewing! !**

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~~~~~~~~~Chapter 6, An angel's feather ~~~~~~~~~~

**Moon Eclipse**

"Emily, are you really alright?" Ace was still concern for his white eyed sister. Said person just nodded. Ace frowned further but said nothing. Kasumi and Amy too had looks of concern on their faces but said nothing. If Emily have something that she doesn't want to tell her brother, she wouldn't tell anyone else either. Except the guild master – Minerva.

"Where are we going to go anyways?" One of the group of children that were arranged from at least 13 – 6 asked. The self appointed leader, Ace replied, "Fairy Tail." Curtly.

"Hey, just now Ken said something about Fairy Tail." Amy started nervously, Ace looked at her expectantly quietly asking for her to continue what she had to say, "So should we really go there for help if they are already in trouble?"

"We just need a place to stay for the night," He paused and furrowed his eyebrows indicating that he is thinking, "And if they really are in trouble we could help."

Kasumi thought differently but she didn't nay say his decision, 'Why look for trouble?' She asked herself.

After an hour full of trudging, resting and drinking water to quench their hunger and thirst, they arrived near the railway track where the next train to Magnolia will be coming. Ace had devised a crazy plan after seeing that the members of the guild had no more strength left to walk for the matter and if things continue, they will all end up dying since by foot it will take 1 or 2 whole days. Plus the fact that they had members that were already sick from hunger and thirst and some that had their injuries infected already.

This time Kasumi did voice out her opinion, "Are you crazy? !" She literally screamed at Ace, "There are too many of us and there are kids here too! What if they don't have a firm grip on – what ever's up there, heck there might not be something solid that we can hold onto – we might fall off the speeding train! !"

"P-please don't raise your voice..." Amy whimpered and Kasumi's anger subsided a little. Emily and the rest of the guild members were scared as well as Ace looked ready to slap the girl, "Fine, those that are injured will have to hitch a ride on a cart and go to Magnolia even though it'll be much slower."

Kasumi opened her mouth to protest but was swiftly cut off by Emily who doesn't want any fighting, "Will do. Merchants usually use this track so the healthy ones will hitch a ride on the train that will be speeding past here in about...50 minutes."

Amy flew back down after scouting the area, "A cart's going to be arriving in three minutes." And true to her words, a cart arrived. Ace and Emily had the job of negotiating with the man and convincing him to take some of the injured ones with him as they were in need of help. The man was a bastard in Kasumi's opinion, the man said he wanted payment so Emily gave him her mother's necklace. The greedy man happily accepted her offer and lets the injured ones on his cart.

"Why did you give your precious necklace to him?" Ace seethed. "Our comrades need help as soon as possible." Emily replied coolly. "The train's closing in!" Amy declared as she rested her paws on Kasumi, ready to send the girl onto the top of the train. Amy will be doing this for Kasumi and Amy while Ace use his gravity magic to lift himself onto the train.

Evrything was going according to plan to Ace, his plan had suceed. That's what he had thought before but now they were in a serious dilenma. Few things could go wrong now, and they were nothing he had planned for. For example, Amy's aiming skill and physical strength.

She was horrible, because of the rain's speed and her fear of not being able to make it in time, she randomly threw Kasumi onto the train and flew to Emily then repeated her actions before she was sent flying off course because of the winds. But she had never expected Emily to be this heavy – in truth, Emily wasn't heavy at all its just that Amy had gotten accustomed to Kasumi's weight so she thought that Kasumi was light while Emily was heavy. So came the conclusion, Emily was dangling by the side of the train, managing to hold up only because she caught something solid. Kasumi was indeed small and light therefore, half her body was in air due to gravity as she held on tightly and firmly to the railings.

Harsh winds met them head on as thunder rumbles, slapping hard on their faces and blowing dust and small pebbles onto their faces. Ace had dust in his eyes so he can't see properly and it distracted him, preventing him from helping the girls. Emily didn't know what to do, Amy was no where to be found and Kasumi was too busy trying to stay on or she'll go crashing into the rocks surrounding the canyon.

"W-What do we do now?" Emily yelled over the sound of the train's whistle and the thunder.

"Try getting in through the window!" Emily turned her attention to her front to look for a window or any kind of place where she can climbed in to the train then get the train conductor to stop – if he disagree, she'll use violence. Her friends lives are more important to her than her reputation or dignity –. She spotted a window a few centimeters from her reach.

'If I strain myself I should be able to do it.' She reached out for the window and almost lost her grip. She screamed. "Are you okay? Emily!" Ace called. "Y-yeah. Just a little shaken." She replied. A little shaken would be an understatement as she was now shaking like a leaf.

"Okay, bad idea. I'll try something now. Just hang on Emily!" Kasumi yelled as she steadies herself on the top...only to get nearly blown away. Emily was trying to get onto the top of the train. She manages to land on the train but she rolls back, then fell to the side, and clings on the pipes of the moving train again.

"Ace! What are you doing? ! Help already!" Ace grumbled but manages to lift himself up by defying gravity. He pulls Emily off the side and onto the roof of the train. They all sighed in relief, but not Kasumi.

"Where's Amy?" The other two shrugged and replied with, "I don't know." Before she can say anything, Emily interrupted with a look of horror on her face, "LANDSLIDE! ! !" the other looked up but see nothing.

"You sure your eyes are ok?" Kasumi deadpans, "I wouldn't be surprised taht you're blind with your eye color and all." Ace ignored her and knelt down beside a crouching Emily.

"Is it going to happen soon?" Emily nodded. "Dang, we got to get out of the train." Ace swore as they thought of how to get out of the moving train without dying.

"Your magic Ace!" Emily exclaimed. "Too tired and I am already having trouble keeping us here." Ace replied gloomily. Suddenly, they heard another earth rumbling crackle followed by the sounds of loose soil detaching from the hills. They shared a horrified look – Ace hid his pretty well but his eyes betrayed him – Emily was looking up as the rocks and soil started plumenting towards the train they were on. Underneath their feet in the midst of the sounds originating from the rocks falling, heavy rain splattering onto the train and themselves and the sounds of thunder as lightning flashes. They heard no cries of passengers that were supposed to be heard in situation like these.

Kasumi took a peek and notices that the people inhabiting the train were corpses. She screamed and would have lost her balance and fell off to her death if it wasn't for Ace and Emily who held her arm.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked worry and fear striking her very core of her heart. "Corpses. We're on a train with no one driving it." Kasumi rasped. Emily looked green, Ace cringed but he quickly mask it all under his cool expression.

"We have to jump." Ace said. "Are you crazy? !" Kasumi yells at him but all she got was a push from her side. Kasumi screamed all the way down. Emily gasped, "Why did you do th-AH!" Emily went next, Ace followed quickly as the train exploded...followed by the sound of soil erosion.

Everything went dark in Kasumi's and eyes.

Ace couldn't fight off the fatigue of over using his magic.

The last thing Emily saw was feathers.

'An angel?'

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Review.


	8. Chapter 8

_**DISCLAIMER :I own nothing. The ocs belong to their respective owners. I only own the storyline.**_

_**A/N: I want to know if you all would want me to write long chapters like around 3000- 5000 words or short chapters like about 1500- 2500 words?oh, and also – your oc's personality may change a little since I am doing it for the plot.**_

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_**~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 8, Father & Our Silver Haired Enigmas ~~~~~~~~~~**_

_**Solitiare **_

(Sun's pov)

"Did you hear that?" I sat up quickly.

"Heard what?" Dagon asked as he ruffled Woffi's fur, now disheveled. "Sounds like someone screaming." Woffi added.

"Did you guys hear that?" I almost leapt out of my skin when Mariah's voice flaoted over into the room me and Dagon plus Woffi shared. Its huge enough for the three of us.

"We did, that aside how did you guys get in here?" The guys that Dagon meant was Ronda, Lily and last but not least Ocenia – who were now all standing on our balcony. The balcony was a pretty nice place to be in if you ignore all the vines, overgrown plants. I swear if scientists go there they'll be able to find at least a dozen different species breeding there. Not that I am going to whine since Master Johanna doesn't like us doing that – sure she was a fun person to be with but when it comes to certain things, she's very strict – Me and Dagon – if he refused, I'll just have to use force – will just have to clean it all up ourselves – oh, and I forgot to mention Woffi as well, that lazy bum will never get out of this one with me watching him and his equally lazy master.

"Our rooms are pretty much connected through the balcony." Ocenia replied impatiently.

"Save Althea's one." Mariah commented and we all fell silent. "Where's Althea? She's a light sleeper, she should have heard the scream." Lily said.

"We're the only ones in the North Wing aren't we?" Ronda was extremely nervous. What she saw or heard early this after noon didn't help much either.

"So...Althea's screaming?" Woffi concluded. Before the sentence were completely out of his mouth, all of us had already bolted out of the door towards Althea's room.

* * *

"No, NO...this can't be happening!" Althea sobbed as she reached out towards the pile of black ashes.

"Althea! Calm down!" Nagini said as she moved to get closer to Althea. She may not have any hands – human hands – for the matter but she had hoped that her presence or her being able to touch her skin may help soothe Althea – who was now in a hysterical state assuming the worst that had happened.

"Althea!"

"Are you okay? !"

"Did somehting happen? " for once, Nagini was glad that the nosy and noisy bunch og kids that Althea always hang out with was here. Maybe they can do something she cannot.

"Dad..." Sun and Ocenia walked to the bed and looked at the pile of black ashes that are now starting to fade away.

"Shit... Your father did something offending, didn't he?" Ocenia swore. Sun scooped up the remaining ashes before it could completely disappear with the rest of them.

"Let's go see Master." Ronda suggested. "Can you walk Althea?" Ocenia asked in a surprisingly gentle tone – normally, she was harsh and would ignore almost all of us since she thought that we were childish – then again they are kids and had the right to act like one – as Mariah rubbed soothing circles on Althea's back in an attempt to calm her down. Althea didn't reply but she just continued to sob.

"Then us three will go." Mariah said as she pointed towards herself, Sun and Lily. They agreed and the small group trooped towarsd the southern wing where their Master's chambers was situated. To reach the southern wing the three girls will have to pass by a hallway full of overgrown weeds, vines and some unknown flowers that bloomed at night – like now, but the girls doesn't have the time to do that since they have to bring their Master to check on Althea and see what they can do to help.

"Why are there weeds and flowers growing here together anyway?" Lily asked as she kicked a baby snake out of her way. The other two were pretty much doing the same.

Mariah caught her breath ; it was beginning to snow. Soft white shiny pretty delicate flakes fell onto ground surrounding them – since the hallway doesn't have a roof, anythign can fall through and onto the hallway, the hallway the three girls are standing in are one of the most dirtiest and rundown part of their new residence. Snow wasn't a novelty nor was it rare at all – they got to see and play a ton of it in other cities and places they have been to before, deposited in a few intense blasts every winter or in some countries and continents that have different weathers. But watching it fall onto the eaves of these gingerbread houses made the snow seem like something out of a fairy tale. It was only a light dusting, the kind that would be gone by the morning or dawn, they all knew this. Still, it didn't ruin its natural beauty.

Sun gasped as her much more enhanced than human eyes saw movements in the attic, "Guys! Look at this!" Lily and Mariah walked over to her to see what she had saw so fascinating in her eyes – it wasn't unusual as Sun always seem to find the weirdest or the most interesting things around them that no one else seem to notice. Many had assumed its because of her eyes that can see mile away. They concentrated and saw a light flickered. A tiny light – stub of a candle, the three friends could see much more clearly now, sitting in some kind of dish and placed just inside the window by its sill – its a wonder why it hasn't fallen off and set the place a blaze – not that they want it to happen, they're just curious. The rest of the attic was still slightly dark, the candle illuminating nothing but the snowflakes as they hit the pane and dissolved into smears of sugary ice. Sun vaguely wonder if they tasted like ice-cream or not and at that thought her stomach growled loudly. The other two girls stared at her as she rubbed her head sheepishly.

The girls quickly turned their attention back to the attic as the candle flickered and surged, its flame a long streak of liquid gold. That was when the girls saw them – they did not move into the picture, exactly, or sit down for the matter, but just...appear, as thought they had been there all along. A young guy that seems to be in his early teens, his pale skin luminous in the candlelight. His long pure white hair which was as white as the snow falling down on to the earth now, tied in a messy high ponytail. Beside the young male teen stood someone that looked exactly like him except that the other one – a girl – has much more feminine features and longer hair tied in the same style but her bangs were braided, she was holding a thick book. Sun squinted her eyes to get a better look at the title but it was written in another language that she did not understand so all she could do was embbed the words into her mind and asked the Master since she always seem to know everything – though sometimes she gave vague answers – Lily and Mariah on the other hand concluded that the two mysterious people are related to each other as twins or siblings the same time Sun had the title of the book memorized. The three froze like a statue as the twins glowing hazel eyes stared straight at them. They were looking at them and through them at the same time, the three girls could feel it, but worst of all ... it was too late to lean away and pretend that they were just passing by. It was a gaze that pinned the three down, in a way that they were all sure would think about over and over again until someone explain who they were.

Through the blur of the snowflakes, Sun, Lilya dn Mariah could see that they had imperious face, with long, thin nose and high cheekbones. Despite the pallor of their skin and the tired purple shadows under his eyes or the blood shot eyes, they were beautiful. The most beautiful guy and girl – the perfect pair – they had ever seen. They didn't know how else to describe them.

There was a word Ocenia used to use, talking about guys she thought were supremely good looking. "He's just so beautiful," She would say for the alive but unobtainable like her favorite celebrity crush, Hibiki Laytis. None of the boys at their guild were beautiful, of course. They might be cute or hunky or dashing but never once beautiful like one of the twins.

This guy and even the girl in the window, Mariah thought, would impress her rival, Ocenia even. They were so beautiful, the girls couldn't take their eyes of them. They didn't even feel embarassed when the pair stared right back at each of them.

"Mariah, guys!" The three girls were snapped out of their reverie when a not so mysterious voice called out. Ronda literally flew into Mariah's embrace, sobbing and shaking out of fear.

"What's wrong?"

"G-ghost, man!" Dagon and Woffi came running up next, followed by a still slightly dazed Althea and Ocenia.

"Let's hurry and fo to the Matser." Ocenia demanded as she supported Althea's weight.

"Okay.." Lily said nervously. She turned her head towards the attic window, all she saw was a window smeared with snow. The light in the attic had gone out. The two white haired teens had moved away from the window – they must have move away when they saw others running towards them. If it had been later at dawn or so, she might have thought she had dreamed the whole thing up.

"What are you guys looking at just now anyway?" Ocenia all but demanded. "Same to you, why are you all running here?" Mariah retorted hotly as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"The whole room shook so we flee!" Ronda intervened before Ocenia can retort so that no more fighting in this dire situation could ensue. That did the trick, "Why?" Mariah asked, taking the bait.

"If we know, we wouldn't have been here but try to stop the source." Ocenia snapped.

"And instead you run with your tail between your legs." Mariah smirked. Ocenia growled and had to be stopped, held back from trying to kill Mariah, her attempt was futile which only served to make Mariah's smirk widened till it cannot be any bigger.

"Look, let's just go to the Master okay?" Lily suggested as she started walking away. Ocenia huffed but complied as she and the others treaded carefully on the ground and made their way to their Master's chambers. But their walk turned abruptly into a run for all of them as they heard inhuman wails. Screams from children could be heard from all around the mansion. This helped nothing as the group of seven rushed for help in their night attire to the safety which only their Master who was like a mother to them can provide.

"I hope the rest of them will be okay." Ronda muttered nervously. The kids nodded in grim agreement.

They came to another abrupt stop in front of their Master's room. The courtesy of throwing the doors open went to Dagon and Woffi.

"MASTER JOHANNA! ! ! ! !"


	9. Chapter 9

_**DISCLAIMER :I own nothing. The ocs belong to their respective owners. I only own the storyline.**_

_**Word count : 2,750**_

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_**~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 9, Road ~~~~~~~~~~**_

_**Solitiare **_

"Master! We have a problem here..." Dagon trailed off as he looked into the room that their master had. Had occupied. The room was trashed, blood splattered around – though who's blood it was he didn't know – and furniture were broken. Woods all around, spider wed like cracks on the wall indicated an intense battle – not good; if the person was strong enough to defeat their master – what chance did the group of 7 have?

"What the..."

"My father.." Althea muttered weakly, "Now what do I do?"

"What does your father have to do with this?" Ocenia demanded.

"Shh..." Sun held her hand up to indicate silence from everyone else. As all of them know, Sun's hearing was impressive and was and is always the first one to sense danger and the group would be much more prepared and with her there, there are very few times when group have been ambushed.

"what is it?" Woffi can't help but ask. "Hide! Something's coming." Sun alerted. Ocenia staggered, "This presence. . . . . We can't stay we have to run!"

"Why?" Ocenia didn't reply as she ushered everyone out of the room. By now everyone's too confused, worried and frustrated to care about the reason why Ocenia reacted so and just stood their ground. Never moving.

"What are you guys doing? !" Ocenia hissed in a whisper, trying and failing to hide her fear and how high her voice have risen.

"I –I can't move..." Mariah seemed to be struggling against an invisible force. Ocenia, Althea, Sun and Ronda huddled together – looking around for any threats and eliminate it before they can deal any harm to their other now immobile friends and are now utterly useless to them in battle ; a hindrance.

"Gah! What's wrong with me? !" Lily was panicking badly now. "Why can you all move while we can't?" Dagon yelled as the ceiling started shaking ; the light bulbs were flickering on and off – leaving the room in a split second darkness then brightness the next second – completely successful in annoying those that have short patience for nonsense and cheap tricks like this – namely Mariah, Sun and Ocenia.

"What the Hell?" Mariah snapped. "- Kind of damn trick-" Ocenia didn't really finished yet. "-Is this? !" Sun screamed as the mat covered ground they were standing on sent all of them toppling over onto their sides.

"_This way..." _All of them looked up from their spots on the ground when the silvery and silky voice floated to them as the icy breeze brushed past them and wrapped themselves slightly around their bodies before passing. There, in front of them was the silvered haired girl that Sun, Lily and Mariah had encountered before.

"W- what the?"

"Another ghost?"

"Our day just got better." Dagon muttered sarcastically.

"_Hurry...Make haste..." _The girl had stilt legs as she was tall for someone her age. Bending she make a grab for Althea who flinched away then jumped away from her touch ; Althea was shivering from fear or from something else the rest of them couldn't tell.

"What?" Lily heard herself gasp. Her heart thudding. The girl paid them no heed as she straightened herself again. Moon colored strands of hair hid most of the girl's face so they can't really see her face or the emotions plastered on her face.

"You startled us – we didn't knew you were here," Ronda burbled. The girl said nothing. She held Ronda's gaze and it made Ronda shuffled away but she was still holding onto Mariah's clothes like her life depended on it.

"What?" Apparently, Woffi caught something the others didn't – not even Sun did as she was disoriented by something.

"_I'll show you_," said the girl, her silvery high voice so faint that they could barely hear her. "_Come with me if you want to see him."_ She made no indication of which 'he' she was talking about so it did nothing to help ease their confusion.

"Come where?" Sun asked. "Who's this 'he'?" Mariah demanded.

"_The place," _The girls paused before continuing, "_I can show you where they locked him up."_

"No!" The word erupted from Althea's mouth. She was scared now – scared of this strange female that held a predatory gaze to it and the fear of losing her father if they didn't make it in time to save him didn't help either and not to mention the female's cold touch, scared of where they might be led. Althea took a step back, and then another. She didn't want the girl to touch her again. She didn't want to see where anyone was locked up, "Go . . . . go away! ! !"

The girl's arm was still outstretched, but Althea's was free from her. she took another step away, as did the rest of the group, too afraid to turn back. They shouldn't have come here or stay for long for the matter – how would they know that this girl isn't the one that wreaked the havoc in their master's bedroom? The master, what happen to her? Thinking about it all make Althea's already weak mind dizzy, she wanted to gag but she restrain herself and fought back the urge ; for the sake of her friends, she would stay strong and face the enemy.

"_We won't harm you." _A new voice stated – it was a male. the silver haired girl's counterpart appeared beside the girl from the shadows. There was only one button left on his coat, Sun noticed for the first time since this is the first time she had seen him up close and clearly. It was clear glass, and it was hanging by a thread : That was why the coat was always flapping open when there's wind or when he makes abrupt movements.

"Where is our Master?"

"Did you do something to her?"

"Who are you two?"

"Why are you here? You two shouldn't be here!" The group of mages from Solitiare immediately bombard the twins with questions, leaving no room for any of the two to answer or explain – not that any of them were expecting the twins to talk since the girl gave vague answers and descriptions and said pretty much nothing to help them but urge them to do something in their confusion.

"_Don't you want to see your father ,Girl?" _The male twin asked, directing his question to Althea. All eyes turned to her.

"W- what? Did you know what happen to him?" Said person stuttered.

"_He asked us to come and your Master aided us." _The girl replied bored out of her mind – the group noted her vague answer as well – the thought 'She's so unhelpful' flashed through their mind in unison. _"What you are seeing is the pathway to the world where the Celestial spirits resides." _At least the boy offered some form of explanation.

"_Make haste ~" _The girl seemed to have lightened up as she started walking away ; its most likely because she can get out of here.

"Wait...what's your name?" Ocenia asked.

"_We are Hydra's legacy." _The boy said as he trailed after the girl. All eyes once again returned to Althea, hoping for some form of explanation. She did give one.

"Hydra is my father's best friend and only friend in the Spirit Realm. I have never once laid eyes on him or his legacies for the matter." She blinked and stood then hurried over towards the twins who were now hovering impatiently, waiting for them. All of them sighed in resignation before quickly getting up and following them.

"_This may also be a lesson or a chance to strengthen yourselves. The battle from here one will be a very difficult one." _The boy said as all of them came to a stop a few feet from the twins that were standing on either side of the portal. Squinting, they could made out a path that's shimmering and sparkling ; it looked fragile and it seemed like it will break upon touch. The rest of the space inside the portal was nothing but darkness, stars hung high in the skies ; untouchable by any mortal ; seemingly mocking for no one could ever touch them as long as they remained on their throne in the high galaxy.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked. They smiled – more like smirked – at the kids confusion. The boy was only a fraction better than his counterpart sister – mysterious, vague, unwilling, sharp and had cold touches that could freeze even time – though in some way, the twins could freeze time – they stopped time so that they can bring the children into the Spirit Realm didn't they? After all, time passes differently between here and there. One day there equals to three months here.

"_We'll be here."_

"_Guarding Time and Space for you while you are all away."_

"Who will go first?" Sun asked with a tinge of fear and uncertainty in her normally confident voice.

"Dagon, since he is the only male here." Ocenia said as she and Mariah started pushing said boy towards the portal. "She's right so get going." Mariah sniped.

"Woffi ~ help me!~" Said animal was pretending to be asleep as he closed his eyes and seemingly to be asleep. Woffi was a jerk and a traitor – though he really could make it as an actor, his acting was totally convincing, if they hadn't know better they would have thought that he was really sleeping. Putting that aside, Dagon finally caved as he entered first into the hollow world ; when he passed through they saw the portal resembles a mirror except that it was transparent. He was followed by Ocenia that was trying to surpress her shudders, a reluctant Mariah and shaking Ronda. Sun, eager for a fun new adventure leaped into it right away when it was her turn to go in. Althea followed trying to gather her confidence and surpress her fear. Woffi went into it last of all after seeing the glare from Dagon that was replaced by dismay and betrayal.

"You two aren't coming?" Althea asked the twins as the portal started closing in on them. The girl shook her head and smiled sardonically, _"Stick as a group, don't seperate or you'll be lost in the abyss forever_." What she had said seemed to serve as the epitome of fear for the group. That got a reprimanding look from her doppledanger, she ignored him though and continued to smirk evilly.

"_Never loose the sight of your goal." _The boy advised just before the portal severed their connection by closing in a swirl of clouds.

"We better move on forward, guys." Sun said as she started backing away from the spot she was standing at just now. This got everyone's attention. They followed Sun's gaze and it landed on the crack on the path that leads to the further abyss in front of them.

"Shit, hurry run for it! !" Dagon yelped as all of them broke into a run. Every now and then they stole glances behind them to determine that they weren't dreaming or that they were hallucinating for the matter.

"Guys, the path splits! !" Mariah pointed to the path that split them. They were closing in fast so without even discussing they split. Sun, Dagon and Woffi took the path furthest right. Ocenia and Mariah took the middle route. Ronda, Lily and Althea went to the one on the left.

... _with Sun, Dagon and Woffi..._

"Shit! We aren't suppose to split! !" Sun shrieked as the three of them were sent plummenting straight down the slope, the speed and the friction created nearly ripping their clothes and their back sides were very sore now.

"Guahh ! !" Dagon groaned in pain as he clutched his head, apparently he was now rolling down like a ball ; he was being an idiot by imitating Woffi's action – something which he cannot do.

Sun turned to her other side to see Woffi rolling like a ball too but he didn't complain. That was surprising since he normally was the first one to whine seconded by Sun herself. It took a while for Sun to realize that Woffi had passed out since white foams are foaming around his mouth, indicating – no, proved – that he was scared witless.

'I hope we suffer nothing serious on our trip down.' Sun prayed to whatever deity in she knew to give them protection.

_...with Mariah and Ocenia..._

" AHHHHHHHH ! ! ! ! ! !"

The two girls were having a hard time to not puke as the slope they went was constantly twisting and turning. Mariah had suggested that they try to get a good grip on something or try to regain their footing since they were unsure of their location. Ocenia had agreed in a whim as in her fuzzy state of mind – courtesy of the ride – her mind had nothing to contribute. But unfortunately, they failed spectacularly and this was the outcome – soaking wet, a dry throat and hoarse voice – due to their screaming – sore and bruises were practically blossoming on their delicate skin.

_...with Althea, Lily and Ronda..._

"Right, right , right ! !" Lily barked as she turned to the right to avoid falling of the edge and into oblivion. The route that the three of them had taken was not so bad except that they have to dodge dead ends ; their path allow them to stop in case they went the wrong way and back tracked – a good thing compared to the other two routes for none of the two routes allow those that passes them to stop at all to rest or gather their wits – not that any of them know this – the bad thing was that the route was a maze, nothing like the other two that might. MIGHT. Take them to the bottom straight away.

"D-do you think the rest of them will be fine? !" Ronda shouted over the roaring of the wind beating against them as they had sped up and was now going at an alarming speed.

"If they are in the same situation as us then –" Althea trailed off, not knowing how to finish her sentence so she opted for a shrug of her shoulders ; when she did, her shoulder blades jutted out like a small pair of wings – it was a trait that Ronda like and dreamed to have for even though she have wings, her shoulder blades can't do anything like Althea's.

"I doubt that they are in a better situation than us. They have horrible team work." Lily replied instead of Althea. The two agreed in grim silence, the worst scenerios plagued their mind. Sun was too impatient, Dagon and Woffi's sick sense of humor and idiocy will kill her the same way she will kill them. Ocenia and Mariah was just imcompatible, the two would want to be the one that leads, the one that dominate.

"But if they are in danger and in need of help I am sure that all of them would cooperate." Lily offered a weak smile and tried her best to reassure her teammates. Though she wished that her voice wasn't wavering that much and hoped that her voice was filled with much more confidence that showed just now.

"I hope you are right." Althea murmured, "I wouldn't want anything to happen to any of them."


	10. Chapter 10

_**Chapter 10.**_

* * *

_**Moon Eclipse**_

Emily blinks as she wakes.

"Master?" She says. Minerva smiles.

"You're awake. That's good." She looks around. "Where are the others?"

"At Fairy Tail." Emily pauses. "I think they made it safely there."

Minerva nods. "Well, then. Let's carry Ace and Kasumi there then. It isn't safe here." Emily complies. She may be small but she could handle Ace's weight easily.

* * *

"Master Bob!" Rhea calls as she knocks on the heavy wooden doors of the guild.

Blue Pegasus' base was portrayed as a single block, square building composed of very massive, pink bricks, with a pair of towers, approximately the same height as the building itself, dividing the facade in three sections, with the side ones being slightly taller than the central one, which was topped by a railing and had its central part composed of pink, flat stones; this part was topped by a railing, which, almost below it, had a golden-framed, shield-shaped sign bearing Blue Pegasus' symbol in various shades of purple. The arched entrance, possessing two large, arched handles, was topped by a peculiar balcony, with a dark window with an intricately decorated frame sitting behind a glass railing with a metal frame in the shape of arrows jutting outwards. Flanking the double door is a pair of columns holding up an arc, which passes over the window above, and two thin, elongated rectangular windows, possessing pyramid-shaped top parts, are placed between such pillars and the towers at their sides. On the outer parts sit two more, similar windows, which, however, are way longer, and possess glasses colored in various shades of purple, adorned by intricated decorations which the frames form on them. Topping the building is a large dome with a light blue tiled roof, ending in a series of small pillars holding up an additional, tiny dome. Sprouting from each of the building's sides is a mildly large, stylized feathery wing composed of stone, in reference to the guild's theme.

Someone answers and opens the door. When Eve sees the exhausted guild members of a very familiar guild, he was surprise.

"Members of Moon Eclipse. . ." He murmurs.

"Could you allow us to see your guild master?" Aki requests. Their numbers had dwindled. Mages were hired by the council to capture them. The only survivors were him, Rhea and Ken. There aren't any status report from the other half of the guild that were sent to Fairy Tail for help. Hopefully some of them were alive. Aki winces when he thinks that, there isn't much certainty when he thinks that.

"We need help." Ken says.

"So do Fairy Tail." Hibiki supplies helpfully. Or not, He thinks when he sees the faces of the three children drop.

"W-what?" Rhea croaks. Her throat's sore and parched, its been a while since she last drank water. "What happened to them? Half of our members were there, did something happen?"

"We're not exactly sure. But some of them disappeared and need our help to–" Ren starts but was interrupted.

"You three – the poor children looks ready to faint and you didn't invite them in to rest?" Ichiya demands of his 'students'.

"Yes, Boss. Right away, sir." The three children were led into the guild. The interior of the guild were as grand as the exterior.

The building's main hall is highly reminiscent of an elegant pub of sort: the large room seems to be adorned by several, rectangular tables, coming with relative benches at both sides, and a counter, complete with shelves behind it, benches in front of it and an entrance with a lift plank, seems to be run by none other than Master Bob who is now standing behind it. The walls are enforced by thin, mostly decorative wood beams, seem to have windows in their highest part, where some beams jut outwards diagonally to sustain the ceiling, and bear semicircular, ornamental sections in their upper part, these being adorned by a series of elongated motifs placed one at the other's side, something which leads the whole structure to take the semicircular form of the figure it's inscribed in. The floor consists of simple, large and square tiles, and the entrance to the guild, in its inner side, bears a long sign above it, this reading "_Blue Pegasus_", alongside a stylized figure of the mythological figure the guild is named after. The wall housing such door seems to be different from the others, having small, arched windows topped by a protruding, decorative motif reminiscent of a fleur-de-lis, above which is a section made of large, flat stones, separated from the normal wall below it by a series of small, rectangular bricks.

"Master Bob, we–" Rhea was interrupted by Bob who places glasses of drinks in front of the children.

"Err. . ." They stare at the drinks presented to them.

"Its alcoholic." Ken sniffs the drink and recoils from the strong smell. "Master Minerva won't be please if we drink it."

"Plain water would do fine." Aki grimaces at the drinks. Rhea agrees by pushing her drink away.

Bod pouts childishly but the three are in no mood for games or pity – their situation are dire. "Fine then." He takes the drinks and replaces them with plain water which the children gratefully drinks.

"It seems like something has happend to your guild." Aki and Ken stares at Rhea, silently asking her to explain the situation.

"Well, you see, sir." She tells Bob of what had happened to them. From the incident in the guild to how they had gotten to Blue Pegasus.

"Hmmm. . ." Bob rubs his chin, seemingly thinking about something deeply, if the frown on his brows are proof.

"Fairy Tail is in need of help too." Bob says after a moment of silence. "For months now that their guild has lost their more powerful members."

"That seems like nothing in comparison to what happened to us." Ken mutters bitterly. "Our guild members died."

"How did they disappear?" Rhea asks curiously as her elbow digs Ken's ribs for his inconsiderate words.

"When they were having their S-class iniation test." Bob replies.

"Oh, great." Aki's tone leaks sarcasm. "So no one will be there to help the other half of our guild?"

"Most likely." Bob says unhelpfully. It doesn't help in quenching their worry. Quite the contrary actually, now they are much more worry.

Bob realizes that what he said is wrong and he quickly corrects himself. "For now, you three need to rest. There is room upstairs that you could use. You've been here before, same room as before you can use."

Minerva is a social butterfly. She likes visiting other guilds, at times she brings some of her guild members. Rhea and Aki were some of the lucky ones to go with Minerva. Ken's new and shy back then, so he didn't follow.

"Come on, Ken. We'll show you where our quarters will be." Rhea leads the way up to the second floor. Ken studies his new surroundings.

The building's second floor house, among other places, a mildly large room which looks like a study. Its floor was identical to that of the main hall, and its plain walls had square pillars fused into them, which held up the ceiling, blank in most of its central part but intricately decorated on the edges; the ceiling was coffered in shape, but, instead of possessing many small square sections, consisted of very few, large ones. A number of shelves, packed full of books, are lined up the walls, and, approximately in the center of the room, in front of a series of large windows complete with curtains, sits a massive desk, on which more books are neatly placed, alongside a globe. In front of such desk is a carpet, on which are a short, elongated rectangular table, with a pair of jugs containing flowers on it, and a pair of small sofas, being placed at the table's long sides. Some walls sport paintings in their upper part; below one of those is a shelf with glass doors, housing a multitude of crystal glasses.

Ken marvels at the beauty of this place. "Blue Pegasus is quite rich."

"Yeah, I had the same reaction as you when I first saw all this." Aki comments as he continues to walk in another direction.

The room they will be staying at until the next course of action is decided is quite spacious. A dozen beds are already neatly made. Six on each side. It was obviously for a group of people to rest in. A fireplace was at the far end of the middle. Simple windows that allows them the pleasure of looking at the scenery.

"What should we do now?" Ken asks.

"For now, sleep. We need to rest so we can think properly." Rhea says sleepily. Aki fell asleep even before his head reaches a pillow.

Ken blinks sleepily, fighting to stay conscious. After what has happen he isn't so trustful of others anymore. _After all, what if Master Bob decides to turn them in to the Council?_ He can't read minds so he couldn't be sure.

But sleep isn't easy to fight. Darkness consumes him even before he is aware of it.

* * *

They reach Fairy Tail by mid-afternoon. They are tired of course. Minerva sent them here immediately, saying she has something else to do and that Makarov will take good care of them for a while.

Ace is carrying Emily who has twisted her ankle and Kasumi is carrying Amy – whom Minerva had retrieved for her – who is still unconscious. Kasumi is starting to worry, she hasn't woke up yet, after so long too.

Ace didn't even stop to marvel the fantastic job the designer has done for Fairy Tail's headquarters.

The current Fairy Tail headquarters has changed. It is extravagantly different from the former building: while retaining the pyramid shape of the former building and consisting of three floors, this one strongly resemble a castle in appearance, having battlements on top of its two upper floor, while the ground floor has a more Western-looking roof than the former building, consisting of many small, square tiles of different size. Over the battlements several large torches are lined up. Topping the building and the last floor is a small, tower-like dome containing a large bell, which has a pointed roof made of tiles; two more towers are present at both sides of the entrance, these having elongated glass windows running through them and weathercocks shaped like Fairy Tail's symbol on their tile tops. The front part of the top floor houses a large banner with the guild's insignia on it, while two smaller banners placed at its sides, some meters away from it, bear, respectively, the Magic Council's emblem and an unknown symbol. The top floor seems to be the most bare, while the middle one's front walls are intricately decorated and sport a pair of ornamental windows. The ground floor's roof bears a highly decorative balustrade on its top, and the floor itself possesses many small windows lined up its front walls, together with wood reinforcements, while its edges bear large, rectangular wood beams. Surrounding the headquarters is a fence composed of stone over-topped by decorated railing, with some pillars over-topped by torches on its length and an open gate giving access to the guild, this possessing an upper part covered in tiles, with railing below it, bearing resemblance to an open portcullis, plus a large sign bearing the guild's name, with ornated decorations above it, including a pair of detailed statues of fairies, each wearing a dress and possessing a pair of wings and elongated ears sitting on their heads. In front of the building, inside the fence, is the so called "open air cafe", containing a little over two dozen tables, each complete with a pair of benches at its sides, and with some of them bearing striped beach umbrellas.

There is also a small Souvenir shop to the left of the entrance, composed of bricks and sporting a wood counter, which is run by Mas Alors – if the board was right. Lined up the building's sides are two lines of trees; the ones farther from the entrance seem to be way taller than the others, appearing from behind the balustrades of the ground floor; either that, or the first floor itself has plants on its top.

They enter without knocking.

To Emily and Ace who had been to the original building before, it was surprising, after seeing the exterior design. The first floor greatly resembles that of the old building, but much larger in size, with more tables and benches, as well as several long beams supporting the wooden mezzanines present on both sides of the hall, and a similarly long counter occupying the wall to the right from the entrance. Above it, a large banner bearing both the guild's name and its symbol is visible. The floor is still made of wood, while the upper part of the walls, just below the mezzanines, consists of bricks.

When first entering the guild, there is a request board to the immediate right, and an information desk to the immediate left. A few meters in front of them, there are two dozen restaurant tables that stretch across the length of the room. The tables end at a large, wooden stage that has four stair cases behind it on it's left and right sides. Two of the stair cases lead upstairs and two of them lead down stairs. In the upper right hand corner of the guild, there is a rest/shower room. To the right of the restaurant tables, there is a kitchen, and next to the kitchen there is a resting room. Next to that room in the lower right hand corner of the guild is a Data Storage Room. There is a library in the lower left hand corner of the room, and next to that is a waiting room. To the left of that, is a storage room, which is located next to a second rest/shower room. Behind the stage of the guild is a large, interior swimming pool that is decorated to imitate an outside environment, having its edges adorned by plants of various sort, mainly palms and tropical-looking bushes, plus typical sunbeds complete with beach umbrellas. The pool seems to lack a proper springboard, with the guild members seemingly diving into it via some crates piled up one on the other. With the redesign of the building, anyone can now ascend to the second floor, which was previously exclusive to S-Class Mages.

Emily is surprised when she hears no usual commotion from the guild members. Something is different. She looks up and sees guild members all quiet, an air of depression lingers over their heads. But curiosity shines in their eyes when they lands on the three children plus cat.

A man steps forward. Ace recognizes him as Macao. Macao is a slim, mildly muscular man of average height with short, straight, slicked back dark blue hair. He has linear dark eyebrows, dark eyes, and a prominent nose with a flat, rectangular front. The lower part of his face is covered in some sparse stubble, including a thin mustache

"We need help." Is the first sentence out of Ace's mouth. Under different circumstances, Emily would have reprimanded her older brother but she now has no time for that.

It was then that Kasumi notices the bags under the man's eyes. "We are in need of help too."

"We just need a place to rest until our master gave us further orders." Kasumi argues, afraid that they would receive no help. "And Amy needs medical treatment."

Macao considers them. "Fine, but you need to help search for our guild members." Ace nods, seeing it as a trivial matter. They has nothing better to do anyway. _Why not make themselves useful than laze around?_

"So, mind explaining what happened to you three – four." Macao amends quickly when he sees the Exceed.

Ace delivers the explaination as if he is reading a textbook. Sounding bored, his tone is flat and emotionless.

Macao grimaces. "So many of you died then." The three nod gloomily.

"I see. . ." His tone indicates that he doesn't see at all. "You must be tired. I'll have someone show you to the guest room."

"Why did you agree for us to help them?" Kasumi hisses in a whisper at Ace once they were out of earshot of prying ears.

"They need help and so do us. Its fair after all. They're helping us and so should we." Ace replies in a monotone voice that doesn't fail to irk the other girl.

"Urgh, you're acting like you're the boss."

"I am much more experienced than you. It should be fair that I am." Ace says as he sits down.

Kasumi is speechless.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Chapter 11.**_

* * *

_**Moon Eclipse**_

"So—remind me, why am _I _doing this?" Kasumi demands. She isn't doing very well—as a dragon slayer, she too suffers from motion sickness. Albeit slightly, she can hold on for at least an hour or so before finally succumbing to it.

"In return for letting us stay at their guild." Ace replies calmly. He is standing beside her and beside him is his his little sister Emily. They decide to stay as far away as the Fairy Tail guild members—so that their conversation wouldn't be overheard and because they don't fully trust them; they had already been betrayed once—by who they had no idea—so Ace said that they couldn't take any chances with this guild.

Emily feels slightly unnerves. She knows that the members of Fairy Tail are a bunch of rowdy guys. To hear them so subdue unnerves her but she could understand—she isn't feeling well with being separated from the other guild members anyway.

"I think we've reached the area!" Macao's voice rang throughout the place—he was appointed as the temporary guild master.

Emily blinks, "But I didn't see anything."

"Aren't you blind?—how can you see anything?" The one that said this is a man of average height distinguished by his brown hair, which is kept in a pompadour-like style that protrudes frontwards from the top of his head in a large, curly and fluffy tuft. His eyes are semi-open; they seem to have light-colored pupils—but under the glare of the sun, its hard to tell.

Ace keeps his face cool but internally, he is seething in anger, "Perhaps you should have looked properly before jumping into inane conclusions."

The man's—Wakaba Mine, now that Kasumi recalls—jaw drops open at the 'big' words Ace had used. Before he can say anything though, Macao comes over to them. "What are you all still doing here?"

"In case you can't see—the waves are too large, we can't possibly jump into the water." Ace says icily.

Macao's shoulders slump, "I know, no one else is willing to go either."

"Why don't you go yourself?" Kasumi suggests indifferently.

Macao sighed, "I would love to—but I have a son to take care of, I can't die here because of some stupid dangerous waves."

"Then you are in luck. Kasumi here, is a talented water mage—a dragon slayer of that element in fact." Ace says. Kasumi is about to retort when she stops, _D-did he just praised me?_ The thought of that crosses her mind as incredulous first but when she considers it, he didn't sound mocking at all when he said that. On their journey to Magnolia, they had been through a lot, unknowingly and unwillingly, they had gotten closer—they had learned to treasure what they have in their time of lost: Each other.

A rare smile dances on Kasumi's lips, "I'll see what I can do."

* * *

_**Solitaire**_

Opening her mouth to let out a string of curses like no other she has uttered before, she rubs her sore head that has received many bumps on her way down.

A chuckle stops her from shrieking curses. She turns, along with her two other companions, Dagon and his pet Woffi.

"What are human children doing in out realm?" Standing in front them is a relatively tall, lean-built, dark-skinned man with short hair that is red on one side and white on the other. His tail is a large gun that is shaped like a scorpion's tail that has the word "Antares" written on it. He wears no shirt, but has a flower shaped collar that is red and trimmed with gold around his neck. He has a red sheet-like material around his waist that is kept up by his large belt that has the Scorpio symbol on it. He wears black shorts, and has bandage-like material wrapped around his arms and legs.

They easily recognizes him as Scorpio—one of the 12 Golden Zodiac Keys.

Sun seethes, "Get out of our way or I'll make you—I am already in a horrible mood!" She gets into her fighting stance, glaring daggers at the celestial spirit in front of her.

Scorpio raises both his hands into the air, palms out, "Whoa, whoa—stop right there little lady—I mean no harm; I was just asking a question." He hastily adds when Sun's aura got even more murderous. "And besides, this is my domain—and the domain of other celestial spirits—I have the right to ask the question of why you are invading my home"

"Wait, Sun, he's right." Dagon interrupts before the fight can escalate into something much worse. He then looks at the spirit before them. "We don't mean any harm either—we're just looking for Althea's father. You know—the spirit that fathered a child with a human."

Scorpio's eyes darkens. Woffi is up and on guard, growling. Dagon stands, knowing that a fight might not be avoided. Sun snarls in a very dragon-like way.

"Well I am sorry but I can't let you anywhere further." Scorpio gets down on his four limbs, in a stance which is reminiscent of a real scorpion's, and then points his scorpion-like stinger at the three—two human, one talking animal.

"Sand Buster!" A large amount of sand is subsequently fired from it in the form of a powerful sand tornado which moves towards the three—who were crowded together, unfortunately— in a line and strikes them with great blunt power. Woffi tackles both children out of the way. But even so, the sheer speed of the sand tonado sends them all flying.

"Urgh, he isn't going to be easy to handle." Dagon mutters as he rubs his eyes—sand has gotten into them so he can't see properly.

Seeing that they are still standing, Scorpio smirks, "I give you full credits for managing to dodge that and not chicken out. But it won't be so easy for you anymore."

"Can we even defeat him when he is in his own world?" Sun demands. Dagon nods.

"Probably, he is now solid so maybe we can tie him up to keep him from alerting anyone else."

"Sand Spear!" Scorpio fires from his scorpion-like stinger a thin but powerful piercing beam of sand at his enemies.

A single bat-like tail and a pair of wings sprouts from Dagon; he takes flight, expertly dodging the sand spears. Sun, with her immense speed could dodge them all, same goes for Woffi.

Taking a deep breath, Dagon spits out a stream of acid, intercepting and disabling all the sand spears, melting the ground around his opponent. Scorpio dodges, eyes wide. He lets out a whistle, "This kids aren't ones easy to mess with."

"Of course not!" Sun snaps, appearing abruptly at his side before delivering a powerful roundhouse kick to his side. Scorpio brings his tail to his side immediately to defend himself—his tail barely manages to defend him from the powerful kick—he slides back a few inches from where he last stood.

Woffi takes his chance and bites the spirit. Dagon's tail wraps around the spirit, giving Sun the oppurtunity to attack. She delivers an enhanced kick to his head, knocking Scorpio out immediately.

She back-flips and finally lands on the ground just as Woffi and Dagon releases the spirit. "Whew—as much as I hate to admit it, we could've lost if he hadn't underestimate us."

Dagon nods in agreement, trying to detach his extra appendages. Sun blinks when she spots them and she grins.

"They're cool and so are you, Dagon!" She doesn't notices the blush that spreads on Dagon's cheeks; Woffi certainly did and he grins.

* * *

"_This" _—Ocenia gestures to the bruises that has blossomed—"is all your fault—you and your stupid ideas coming from your brain!" She snaps.

"Well, I am not the one that was too busy to—" Mariah starts to say but is interrupted.

"What are you two brats screaming about here?" They turn in perfect unison at the voice of an irritated woman.

Said woman is—undoubtedly—a Celestial Spirit with the appearance of a royal blue mermaid. She has a long blue fish-tail, large breasts, and dons a revealing bikini top. She has two gold armlets and wears a jewel circlet. She wields an urn which is the basis of her powers—that is their guess, nothing more. It is Aquarius.

"Damn it, such bad luck," Mariah mutters. "We ran into a powerful spirit right away?"

"Human children, I see." Aquarius murmurs, looking the both of them over. A tick appears on her forehead and she swings the urn back. "You're not welcome here, humans!" She yelled as water the amount of oceans pours out of the urn.

"Stand back, Mariah!" Holding her palms out and chanting rapidly, Ocenia freezes the oncoming water.

Mariah isn't idle either, standing back, she lets out strands of shadows casts by them towards Aquarius, capturing her and holding her in a cage made of shadows. The cage is tight and has close to none space for Aquarius to move.

She grins as Aquarius starts cursing them. "Well, let's run for it!" Both her and Ocenia run, hand in hand, into another direction, grinning ear to ear.

* * *

"W-where are we?" Althea looks around uncertainly. Lily and Ronda are doing pretty much the same thing.

"A-Althea..." A weak cough. "What are you doing here?"

Said girl turns quickly. "Dad!"


End file.
